What Happened To Silver
by DaisyPhantom
Summary: Spontaneous arguments are a sign of passion; repeated arguments are a sign of drama. Think twice about what you say, because the other person just might hold it against you. And whatever happens, you can never be prepared for the outcome. SilverxGold
1. New Game

Gold stood in front of the Pokémon lab in his hometown of New Bark. Something was preventing him from taking a step further and entering the doors to receive his new Pokémon. He even knew which one he wanted. Then a red- haired guy, a little more six than feet tall, caught his eye, looking into the window of the building.

He had on a black long sleeved shirt, skinny leg jeans and black Converse with red laces to match his fiery, shoulder length hair that flipped out at the ends. On the top of his head was a little piece of hair that just wouldn't go down. Gold was puzzled. What was he staring at?

As Gold inched closer, he could hear the red head talking to himself.

".. is the famous Elm- laboratory.."

"Excuse me?" Gold smiled. The red head snapped his head around to glare down at the shorter boy. "Do you need help with something? Hi, I'm Gold. Well. That's what everyone calls me, anyway." He smiled, holding his hand out. The red head just looked at it, hesitant to slip his hand into the other boy's.

"Silver.." he slowed, not sure why he hadn't pushed this kid out of the way by now. He was bothersome, short, and had a swoop of black hair falling over his face from out of his baseball cap. His eyes were a lightish gray colour, and he had the innocence of a little kid, wearing a red sweater with a white collar, and black capris. Silver growled and came to his senses.

"Outta my way, kid. I have to go get my Pokémon." He pushed Gold "out of his way", before Gold grabbed his wrist and stopped him.

"Hey wait, what's the rush Silver? I'm going to get my Pokémon, too! I've always wanted a Cyndaquil. What about you?"

He snatched his arm back. "Totodile.."

"Awesome! Let's go-"

"Wait one second, Gold."

Gold spun around to look at him. "Yes?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. Silver got a little flustered, shaking his head in quick spurts and revving his mind back to the topic before he got distracted.

"I wasn't planning on _receiving_ it, I came to take it by force." Silvers arms folded across his chest. It took Gold a minute to process what Silver was getting at. His light gray eyes widened in horror.

"You can't steal a Pokémon! Especially when Professor Elm is so willing to _give_ new trainers their own Pokémon!"

"I can and I will, kid." He rolled his eyes.

"And stop calling me 'kid'! I'm 16 years old!" Gold pouted. Silver looked in the other direction.

"You could have fooled me."

"Oh? And how old are _you,_ Silver?"

"19."

"Oh.." Gold looked down. "But you don't look it! You've got such a pretty face for someone your age!"

Silver could feel himself getting flustered again. "What is _that_ supposed to mean? Ugh, you're just wasting my time." He burst into the doors of the laboratory with Gold quickly following.

"Hey wait up!"

_Not again.. _Silver collided his forehead to his hand with a quick _slap!_ Noise.

The professor pulled himself away from his studies and greeted the two young boys.

"Hello, Ethan! Your mom called about you and said you'd stop by to pick up your first Pokémon." Elm adjusted his glasses.

"That's right! And this here is my friend Silver!" Gold slapped Silver's back hard, meaning for it to come off as friendly, but Silver lurched forwards at the force of the hand to his back. Gold just smiled.

"Right this way, boys." Elm led them to a table with three Pokéballs set on top of it.

"You go first.." Silver glanced down at the white tiles of the floor. Gold shrugged.

"Okay! I was gonna go first anyway!" he snatched the Pokéball that contained Cyndaquil. Silver's eyes shot up in frustration at the younger boy's impatience. "You're gonna _take_ it, right?" Gold's eyes were warm. Silver looked in them for no more than 10 seconds, and that was enough to realize what he should be doing. Plus the sarcasm sort of helped. Silver couldn't resist proving people wrong. He took the Pokéball. _Without_ stealing it. Gold did a slow clap. Silver growled and shut his eyes real tight.

_I can't tell if he's making fun of me or not!_

"Well done, boys!" Elm's voice broke into Silver's thoughts. "In no time at all, you two will be on the road to becoming Pokémon masters!"

Gold and Silver both looked at him doubtfully. Elm let out a nervous laugh.

"Well, at least challenge the Violet City gym. It's not too far out from here."

"_Now_ you're thinking realistically. Come on, let's go Gold." Silver grabbed his hand to leave. "Thanks old man." He opened the door, then slammed it on the way out. All the while, he was dragging Gold around, thoughtlessly.

"Hey! Quit it, you're going to fast for me!" Gold whined, holding on to his cap so that it wouldn't fly off. Silver walked fast. Not to mention he was tall, so Gold's short legs couldn't keep up. Finally, Silver stopped. He bent down real close to Gold's face, so that they were at eye level. Silver's piercing red eyes cut daggers through Gold's carefree spirit. He was now suddenly nervous.

"Listen. You and me. We're rivals from this point on. No friendship. No nothing. Get it?"

"But why does it have to be that way?"

Silver was shocked, then tried to hide it by forcing a frown. That was the first time Gold actually sounded his age. Why _did_ it have to be that way? Silver didn't really know the answer himself.

"It just does, okay?" He spat out, harshly.

"Okay.." Gold said in a small, helpless voice that made Silver feel guilty. His expression softened as he stood all the way up.

"Fine. You can follow me. But just until we reach Violet City. Then we go our separate ways. Besides, a wimp like you could easily get lost."

"Hey!" but before Gold could say another word, Silver was already walking.


	2. Press Start

It was a bright and sunny day in New Bark Town, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Of course. Silver always walked around like he was under one. Suddenly he stopped walking. Gold bumped into his back, as he was trailing behind him.

"Oh, Silver! What'd you stop for?" he whined, clinging his freshly obtained Cyndaquil to his chest. Silver whirled around, and looked down hard at Gold's face. It was like the sun was shining for the very first time, and the cloud that had once been hovering had vanished, ceasing the downpour of rain that always seemed to follow him.

"Am I moving too fast?" Silver wondered why he had asked. He didn't really care about anyone but himself. He knew if he stuck around with Gold any longer, that would change. Fast. What had he gotten himself into?

He wanted to be one of the best trainers in Johto; that was for certain. and he knew it wouldn't be an easy feat, and that he'd have to work for it. But with Gold following him around like a lost little puppy, it seemed near impossible.

Gold- whether he knew it or not- was an obstacle for the miserable teen. Not the good kind that made you become stronger, but the bad kind that only held you back. Silver sighed. He knew he had brought it on himself, yet he still had to ask. How much more of this?

"Silver?" Gold said in an almost inaudible chirp.

"What." Silver said sharply, never hiding his annoyance. Gold sat down on the grass in the middle of Route 29.

"Get up off the floor! Look, I'm not your babysitter, kid-"

"I never asked you to be." There he went again. Sounding 16. Silver put his arms behind his back and glared down at Gold.

"What do you want."

Gold petted his Cyndaquil. "I was thinking.. I was thinking that maybe we could have a battle."

A nerve went running down Silver's spine. "A battle?" he raised his eyebrows and gave Gold an "are-you-sure-you-wanna-do-this, -kid?" look.

"Yeah. I think I'm ready for it. Besides, we could use the practice. None of us have ever battled before-"

"Speak for yourself."

"Okay, Silver."

Silver's face scrunched up. Gold was playing with him.

In an instant, he called his new Totodile out of his Pokéball and threw it in mid-air. Gold stood up, psyched.

"Just a fair warning: I don't go easy on weaklings like you."

"How would you know I'm weak, Silver? You don't know what I'm capable of-"

"Just shut up! Go, Totodile! Use Rage!" shouted Silver, as his Pokémon carried through with the attack.

"Dodge it Cyndaquil, and use Tackle!" But Totodile had gotten to him first.

"Nice try, Gold. Totodile, Water Gun, now!"

"Use Smokescreen!"

Totodile missed. Silver was getting angry.

"Smokescreen, one more time!"

"Rage Totodile, and this time don't screw it up!" But he did. And Silver ended up losing the battle. He called his Pokémon back in a rage himself. He started yelling insults at the Pokéball; well aware Totodile could hear every word from the inside.

"Stop it! What are you doing! Poor Totodile was trying his hardest!" Gold whined. Cyndaquil took a step behind Gold's leg.

"Stay out of this! What good is a Pokémon if it's weak! I only care about strong Pokémon that can win battles and succeed above all the rest. I don't have time to train a team of losers! Besides, I should have had the advantage! I had a water-type!"

Silver's words sank into Gold's ears. He fished a Potion out of his pocket and bent down to let Cyndaquil have a sip of it.

"Totodile.. tried its hardest. How come you don't realize that's all that matters?"

"Shut up. It doesn't even matter. Next time, I won't lose."

After about an hour of walking, passing through Cherrygrove City on the way, they finally made it to Violet City. The warm summer breeze was refreshing, seeing as how the hot sun had been unbearable on both of their skins. The first thing they did was rest at the Pokémon Center.

"You know what I forgot to do?" Gold said, sitting at a table across from Silver, taking off his jacket. Silver didn't say anything. Gold sighed and kept talking.

"I forgot to tell my mom goodbye. I forgot to take my backpack, too. I forgot everything. My money, my Poké Gear. Everything. I even forgot to tell Lyra bye. I guess I was just so caught up in becoming a trainer and getting Cyndaquil, that I forgot the little stuff." He put his head down on the table. Silver frowned.

"Then where did you get that potion?"

"What?" Gold's head shot up. "Oh, that. A guy at Elm's lab gave it to me. He said I'd need it. I've got four; do you want one?" He asked, taking it out of his pocket and handing it to Silver. Silver didn't move.

"No."

"Yes you do," Gold smiled.

Silver's eyes narrowed.

"Do you have any money?"

Silver remained silent. Like a statue.

"Then how do you plan on getting one?"

"Would you please _quit_ having a conversation with me like I've actually answered any of your stupid questions?" he got up, and talked with the Nurse Joy behind the counter to see if his Totodile had recovered. She smiled and handed him his Pokéball. He snatched it and mumbled "About time.." under his breath. He walked back to the table and stood there, waiting for Gold. Gold looked confused.

"What."

"Come on. I don't have time to wait on wimps like you forever."

Gold's head shook. "But you said when we reached Violet City, we'd depart. Isn't that right?"

Silver had a flicker of pain show up on his face before he composed himself and masked it with a scowl.

"That's right.."

"So you'll stand by your word, _right_?"

Silver growled at him. _Stop.. teasing.. me.._ Then he smirked. He walked out swiftly, only to get his foot injured by slamming it purposely into the door when it opened. Gold jumped to his feet. Silver smirked again.

_Gotcha._

"Oh no, Silver, are you okay?" Gold rushed to his side in a speedy blur. Silver fake limped.

"Of course I will be. Are you stupid? I'm not bleeding, am I? Do you see red anywhere on m-" He stopped. Of course Gold saw red.

Silver's flaming red hair (which was redder at the tips, but only Gold noticed), his brilliant red eyes that sparkled only slightly in bright lights. And his red cheeks at the warmth of the sun that made his whole body rise a degree or two.

Silver stood up straight and resumed storming off. Gold only followed.


	3. Hate Gold

***The following chapter, "Hate Gold" will be written in Gold's Point of View. Just giving it a try; it's not permanent. Enjoy.***

My knees began to shake. I tried to hide it by putting pressure on them with my hands and bending down, but that action only made things more obvious. I was nervous. But I was more nervous that Silver would be able to tell.

I had followed him around for a while, his arm slung around my shoulder and my hand around his waist. Just to make sure that he was okay. Just to make sure that he wouldn't fall over. It was weird though, because the instant we stood in front of the Violet City gym, he stood up straight, normal, leaving _me_ to be the one to fall into pieces.

How did he do that?

Silver was so cool, so composed. Even with his injured his foot, he acted as if nothing ever happened. He's so good at his act, I almost believed him. But it wasn't in my caring nature not to help him out, even if he _was_ fine. He had even gotten better about acting cool when we battled again and he had lost for the third time. Maybe something clicked when I had told him his Totodile was doing it's very best.

What's going on?

Before I knew it, he was holding the door open for me. My mouth felt like it was glued shut.

"Are you coming or not, Gold?" He took what seemed like two small steps, even though there was a great distance between us. I didn't even see him walk all the way over there. I guess cause he had such long legs he was able to get to places quicker than I could.

In a blur, he bent down to pick up something off of the ground. It looked like a small piece of paper, with a kid's picture on it, wearing a hat- oh. Ohhhh. My trainer card. Did it slip out of my pocket?

Silver glanced at it, then turned his head to the side. "Your name is Ethan? Ethan Gold.." That last sentence seemed like he was talking to himself, muttering all the other information aloud that was printed on the backside as he flipped it over. Then he looked down at me. I gulped. But why. I hadn't done anything wrong. Somehow I felt anxious. Him knowing so much about me. My birthday, my weight, my height.. Little things, yet so significant.

"Yeahh.. didn't you hear Professor Elm call me that?"

"No."

_Pay attention_, I thought.

"You're four foot eleven?"

I blushed. "D-don't act so surprised! Couldn't you tell?" He just looked down at me. I gulped again and blurted something else out to fill the awkward silence. "How tall are you?"

"Six nine."

My eyes widened. I saw a smirk on his face.

"Just kidding. Six four. Not much of a difference though." He shrugged. I felt like he was toying with me. "So are you coming, or not?"

Coming.. or not?

Silver's sudden breakout of his usual harsh tone caught me off guard. I tilted my head to the side and blinked, honestly confused. His hand flew to his face, his cheeks turning light pink.

What was the matter?

I ignored it. It was probably the heat, or something. Silver composed himself, and continued.

"The gym battle? You know? Our first? Kind of a big deal." As I had missed before, he was suddenly holding the door out for me.

You're so far away..

* * *

We looked up. What was.. _that_?

"It's a rising beam."

Silver and I both snapped our heads around to see a short guy with glasses standing near the entrance. Who..? It was as if he had heard the question in my head.

"What are we.. supposed to do? Get on it?"

Suddenly, without me thinking about it, I clung to Silver. Silver pushed me off, and I almost collided with the floor.

"You're such a baby." Silver shook his head. Yep. He was definitely teasing me.

"The beam leads straight to Falkner." The man adjusted the glasses on his face. "You'd better get a move on."

"Come on Gold," he grabbed my hand and led me to the beam. Well. He had to _pull _me, actually. I was scared out of my mind. I was so afraid of heights. I almost started crying. I felt the tears welling up inside of me.

"Please don't make me go up their Silver, please, please, please.." I said all in one scared whisper. I was begging. Go on. Say it. Tell me how weak I am. Give me a lecture about how if I don't face my fears, then we just walked all the way here for nothing. How I had just wasted your time.

"Ethan! Listen to me!"

What? Was my rival actually.. talking to me? In sentences that didn't include the words "wimp", "weakling", or "loser"? Did he actually just use my real name? Well.. nowadays we didn't really feel so much like rivals anymore.

I stared hard into Silver's red eyes. They were intense, while I'm sure that mine were frightened.

"You don't have much to worry about, Gold. I'll guide you through this. I do have more experience than you, seeing as how I am the toughest trainer here out of the two of us." Silver clutched his Poke ball and brushed some hair out of his face.

"What?" I choked out, startled. "I don't remember you winning any of our battl—"

"Enough, Gold! Do we wanna win this thing or not? Not trusting me isn't going to help, and reminding me of my losses doesn't make things better either. Besides. You could win a million battles, but you'd still be weak. What matters is that you tried your best. _You_ taught me that. Gold." Silver's voice sounded rushed, panicked, while still seeming harsh.

Everything was a blur, a light whirl of noise passing by my ears, right after he said 'we'.

He doesn't say things like that. He's not like that. Where's the rude, thoughtless Silver that just didn't care? Where's that guy? Where is he?

I actually felt myself look around. Then I felt him swoop me up in his arms, as the ground got smaller below us.

_Silver.. what.. happened to you..?_

**Sorry if this is bad! Dx I'm writing this at 3am, so I didn't read back over it or check it. I just rushed to get it done. Oh! About Gold's height, I play as him in SoulSilver. There's an option where you can compare you to your Pokemon's height. Under Ethan, it said he was 4'11. I think that's kind of short though. What do you think? :o**


	4. Vs Falkner

Gold clung helplessly to Silver. He glanced up at the taller male, his expression fierce with anticipation. He looked down and saw the pillar that they stood on top of rising. Then he glanced down at their hands. Silver was gripping Gold's with quite force. It hurt a little bit, but Gold tried to ignore it. He had bigger issues.

Silver's hands were larger to Gold's in comparison, but they felt stronger, like he was protecting Gold. And in a way, he was. Each of their fingers seeped through the opening the other fingers had made. They were connected. Silver had only gripped Gold's hand tighter when they reached the top, and set him down gently.

Gold was afraid to take a step and almost tripped off of the edge. Silver reacted quickly and pulled the younger boy up to safety by his waist with one hand. His hat went flying, revealing a head of shiny, silky black hair that fell down over one of his eyes. Silver tilted his head. He'd never seen Gold without his hat before. He rubbed his head, making Gold's hair messy in the process. Then he smoothed it back out, realizing what he had done. Gold sighed.

"Sorry.." Silver muttered.

"Hm? Oh, it's not that! I just.. what am I going to do about my hat?" they both looked down, but all they saw was darkness below them.

"I'll buy you a new one."

"That's not the point! That hat was special. Lyra gave it to me!"

Silver twitched in annoyance. "Who is this Lyra person you keep mentioning?"

But Silver got interrupted as a man with blue hair slowly approached them. "So you're here to challenge my gym, correct?" the man said, with his Hoothoot resting on his shoulder.

"No, we're here to play dress up. Why else would we be her-" Silver caught a glance at Gold, who gave him a stern "be nice" look. Silver sighed. "Yes, we're here to challenge your gym" he said, not even trying to hide the irritation in his tone of voice.

The leader regarded Hoothoot and turned in the other direction.

"Follow me. Oh, and watch your step," he warned, half sarcastic, half serious. Silver growled. Then his growls got cut short when Gold clung to him even more. He looked down at him, wondering what was wrong. Then they all stopped walking. Silver bent down to view Gold, meeting his eye level. His eyes were watery, and he wiped some tears with the back of his hand. The way Gold looked just now reminded him of a little kid. Silver wiped some of Gold's tears away with his fingers. He stared deep into his eyes, Gold not doing the same because he was nervously glancing at the floor.

Silver became a skyscraper again, towering over Gold and pulling him closer. Trainers and their Pokémon were on looking, wondering what was going on. The leader spoke up.

"I can see that your little brother is nervous, but I can't wait around forever. I have to challenge one of you."

Silver spun his head to discern the bluenette.

Stare down!

"We're not related! He looks nothing like me!" he was about to say more when he realized that to anyone looking from the outside, they did appear to be related in some sort, what with all the hand holding and warm embraces. Silver shook his head and watched Gold again. Gold craned his neck to exchange the glance. Staring into Gold's warm gray eyes, he knew Gold wasn't able to do this alone. He turned back to the gym leader.

"I want to challenge you-"

"Yes yes, I know that," the leader said, sounding bored yet impatient. Silver snarled.

"Let me finish! I want to challenge you.. but to a double battle!"

Gasps could be heard from all the trainers who were watching from afar. Quite a few had gathered now, making it look like some sort of scene. Gold perked his head up and let go of Silver. He cringed, not realizing when he let go how badly it would affect himself.

"What? Silver.. Is that.. Is that even allowed?"

"Whatever," Silver brushed it off. "It is now."

The leader smirked. "This should be interesting.

* * *

"This match will be a two against two double battle, with the leader allowed to have two Pokemon of his own, to be even, while the challengers will only have one of their own. The battle is between the Violet City gym leader, Falkner, and the challengers Gold and Silver.

"Two against two," the leader repeated to himself after the official Pokemon judge had explained the rules. "Go! Pidgeotto! Doduo!" he threw his Pokéballs mid-air as they emerged in a flash of light.

"Cyndaquil, I choose you!"

"Totodile, come on out!" Totodile cheered, happy that Silver had been treating him a bit nicer lately.

The tension in the room seemed to cut like a knife. All the trainers had tense looks on their faces, with the exception of Gold's, who didn't know what to think or how to feel.

"Pidgeotto, Doduo, Quick Attack, go!"

"Dodge it, Cyndaquil!"

"Totodile, use Scratch!"

This was all very confusing, and carried out like that for a while. There were many things you had to consider in a double battle that you wouldn't normally in a one on one. You had to know your partner's strengths and weaknesses. You had to figure out which Pokémon would attack with the most power between the two. Things like that that neither of them was prepared for. But Silver looked like he'd been doing this for ages.

"Doduo, use your Rage attack!"

"Totodile, use yours!"

Both Pokémon went head to head, in an all out rage fest.

"Now Pidgeotto, use Gust on Cyndaquil!"

What?

Silver contemplated Gold's Cyndaquil, who looked like he'd had enough already, and had tired out before all the rest even broke a sweat. He had a feeling Cyndaquil wouldn't be able to dodge or defend itself fast enough.

"Totodile, jump in front of Cyndaquil, now!"

Totodile cringed as it took the blow from Pidgeotto for Cyndaquil. Totodile looked behind him and said something in Pokémon language, most likely an "Are you okay?" Cyndaquil nodded.

Gold smiled, looking up at Silver. Silver didn't pay him any attention, still very focused on the match.

* * *

Gold fiddled with the shiny metal badge in his hand as he sat at the table in the Pokémon Center, waiting for Silver to get their Pokémon, who were being healed.

"We hope to see you again," Nurse Joy smiled. Silver nodded and returned to their table, sliding in next to Gold. Gold grinned a cutesy grin at him and gave him a hug. Silver blushed and looked the other way.

And that was the day Silver and Gold became a team.


	5. Sick Silver

***The following chapter, "Sick Silver" will be told in Silver's point of view. For this chapter ONLY.***

He wouldn't let go. Not even for a little bit. And a part of me didn't want him to. A part deep DEEP down. Gold was extremely clingy. But every time he released. I felt a twinge of anger surge up inside me. And I had no idea why. I'd never get used to him letting go.

Then I realized something. Being in this exact same Pokémon Center in this very spot made me remember what he had told me before we went to face Falkner.

"You.." I started to say, but couldn't finish. Then I took a deep breath. He looked at me with an adorable little face, filled with curiosity, and I just about lost it. Why did he get me so worked up? My heart went pounding.

Gold wasn't even trying to be cute. He just was. And I'll admit it. I thought he was the most adorable thing I had ever seen. His height was perfect, even though we both had to strain to look at each other at times due to our foot and a half height difference. The way he felt under my arms whenever I had to pick him up and drag him to bed at the Pokémon Center because he would always fall asleep in the grass. The way he woke up, saying, "How did I get here?" and looking around the place while I sipped my coffee and watched him try to figure it out. He never did. The way he stood, with both his feet pointing inward, swaying from side to side like a little kid whenever he got nervous. The way he clung to me, whether he was scared, or for no reason at all. The way he smiled at everything and had such an optimistic attitude, and the way he stuck by my side even though I tried to ruin him, called him names and gave off a bad attitude. He didn't care. He still wanted to be my friend. And maybe I was sick for not pushing him away sooner. I would only cause him pain in the end. Then he would hate me.

I cringed at the thought, and forced myself to look at Gold, putting my thoughts behind me.

"What is it, Silver?"

"I.. You.. We need to go back to New Bark Town."

Gold pulled away from me again. I blinked several times, trying not to show how hurt I was that he wasn't holding on anymore.

"What for?"

Had he honestly forgotten?

"Your bags and things. And your mom. You didn't tell her goodbye."

Gold just stared at me. "Oh yeah! Come on, let's go!" he exclaimed eagerly, trying to push me out of the seat so that he could get up. I didn't budge. And he wasn't able to move me, either, yet he was trying his hardest to do so.

"Silver.. You're.. So.. Heavy.." he said in between tiny little struggles and gasps.

I chuckled lightly. "Maybe you're just weak." Oh no.

I stopped laughing the same time Gold stopped pushing, and I just got up. I always used that word with him, but this time I meant it in a jokingly way. Surely he knew that. Although part of it was true. I called Gold weak to hide my own insecurities about being a Pokemon Trainer. In this very situation I was talking about how I was stronger in terms of physical strength.

Gold got up after me and clung to my side again. I was beginning to think that it was involuntary.

When we arrived back his hometown, we stood in front of Gold's doorstep anxiously awaiting his mom to come out. She did.

"Hi honey!" she greeted her son. Then she noticed me standing there beside him. I felt like a freak, with my slouchy stance and my hood over my head. My snakebites didn't help, or my little bit of eyeliner. She probably thought I was some kind of delinquent rebel. Someone she would never want near her precious Gold.

"Who is this?"

Notice how she didn't say, "Who's your friend?" like most moms would have.

"Mom, don't be rude. This is Silver."

"Oh! Then please, both of you come in!" she welcomed as we breezed in past her.

* * *

"So you won your first badge. I'm so proud of you, Ethan." She gave him a hug.

"Mooom!" he whined. "You're embarrassing me!"

I smiled a bit and took a sip of the lemonade she had made for us. At least Gold has a mom that treats him so kindly. And a nice house too.. I reached in a fruits basket on the table to grab an apple.

"Oh no honey, that's-!"

But it was too late. I had already bitten into the plastic fruit. I frowned deeply. Mainly because I was so hungry and that thing wasn't real. I set the apple down, with freshly indented teeth marks, while Gold and his mom laughed at me.

"Ha-ha," I said sarcastically. "Why do you have fake food in the middle of the kitchen table?"

"It was only meant for decoration," she explained.

"Food was made to be eaten, not to look at!" I shouted bitterly, with little to no patience for her stupid excuses. Back where I came from, we had _real_ food on our table. It just goes to show just how different Gold and me really are.

"Anyway," she decided to change the subject. I guess she didn't know how to handle anger very well, what with Gold being so nice and all. "Lyra's coming over. I called her dad while making the lemonade and told him you came back, so I invited her to stop by. You know how much she loves you, Ethan."

I choked on my lemonade and a fit of sickly sounding coughs soon followed.

**("Snakebites" are piercings. Whether they appear on the upper lip or lower, I'm not sure. I forget Dx)**


	6. Coming Second

Gold's mom came back downstairs after packing Gold's bags. Then she handed Silver some money for food, clothes, whatever they needed. But Silver took it the wrong way.

"I can't accept this," he said flatly, giving the money back to her. "I win my own money battling random bug catchers and picnickers."

"Oh no dear that's not for you! It's for Ethan! I wanted you to keep track of it cause.. well.. you know."

Silver rolled his eyes. Of course he knew. Gold was irresponsible. What 16-year-old boy wasn't? But at times, he knew more than Silver did, and steered him right from wrong. He wondered if she knew that?

Gold's mom smiled. "I'm so glad you're traveling with him, Silver. So glad he's not going alone.." her voice trailed off.

Silver blinked. He didn't know what to say. He was sure that if she got to know the real him, she wouldn't be saying all these things and trusting a total stranger with her money. Not to mention just days ago he was complaining about how he didn't want to become his babysitter. And now he had become just that,

"Mom! Did you pack the tent?"

"Ethan sweetie, I told you I don't want you two sleeping outside. Find a nice Pokémon Center. I know a Nurse Joy there. Talk to her and she'll let you stay as long as you like."

"Which one-" Gold got cut off by the ringing sound of the doorbell. Silver's heart skipped. In a bad way. Gold jumped out of his seat to answer it.

A girl with lengthy brown hair and blue overall shorts came crashing through, almost tackling Gold. They both had gigantic smiles on their faces.

Gold and Lyra were the best of friends, who had an unbreakable and inseparable bond ever since they were young. Lyra had got a Marill when she was 6 from her dad, but promised Gold that she wouldn't train or battle with it until Gold got his own Pokémon. So ten years later, that same Marill came waddling through the doorway, still a level 5. Gold bent down to wave at Marill. She giggled.

"Gold!" Lyra's voice was loud and bubbly. Silver just found it annoying.

"Lyra!" they hugged each other once more. Silver couldn't find it in himself to avert his eyes away from the two, as he dug his nails into the table without thinking about it.

"Gold," she tucked a piece of her bangs behind her ear. "You forgot about me. That makes me sad." She looked up at his head. "Also? Where's the hat that I gave you?"

Gold laughed, ignoring her last question. "I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I forgot to say goodbye to mom too."

"Oh hi Mrs. Gold! I didn't see you there!" she walked over to give her a hug, and then took her place back beside Gold. Surprisingly, Lyra and Gold were the same height. She took her white hat out of her golden yellow bag and placed it on her head. It had a red bow on the side that matched her shoes and her top. Then she glanced over at Silver, who had his hood up over his head from his black jacket, and sat leaned back in the chair with his arms crossed.

"Who's that?"

"Oh that's Silver! We're partners! I won this badge today with him, see?" he grinned and thrust the Zephrbadge in her face. She had to step back to see it clearly.

"You.. you started your adventure without me..?" she had to ask, her voice a little shaky.

"Oh Lyra," Gold put a hand on her shoulder. "I couldn't wait around forever."

"But I waited for YOU!" she whined and stomped her foot on the cold hard kitchen floor, like a little baby who didn't get her way.

"I'll be upstairs.." Gold's mom made a swift exit as the two teens argued.

"The whole point of me not training my Marill was so that we'd be on the same level. You were holding me back this entire time! If I would have known that you'd go off by yourself-"

Lyra's babbling got cut short when Silver stood up, right before Gold clung to his side. He wrapped his arm around Gold and Gold buried his head into Silver's stomach. Silver was giving Lyra a "back off, he's mine" look. And it must have worked, because Lyra took a few steps back.

"He's not by himself, little girl. He's with me," he said, with a tone a lot harsher than it should have been.

"I'm 15 years old and I'm not a little girl."

"Same difference."

Lyra walked to the door. She knew it was time to go. But she hesitated to see if Gold would stop her. He didn't until she turned around. He reached out his arm for her but Silver grabbed it and jerked it back to his side with so much force Gold nearly screamed.

"Just let her go.." Silver said under his breath, and Lyra turned around again.

"Who is he to you? Ethan."

"I'm his boyfriend," Silver answered for him without thinking. Didn't seem like he regretted it, though. Lyra shook her head.

"So that's why. I'm always coming second. You've always put me second Gold. Even when we were kids. I should have known better not to act so surprised!"

Gold spoke up this time, not even bothering to correct Silver when he called him his boyfriend.

"But everything is second to your dreams! It was _your_ choice not to train your Marill, not mine! I didn't want you to wait for me Lyra! I wanted you to be independent!"

"Shut up. You're one to talk. I bet you can't even stand to be away from Silver for one second!"

"How do you kno-"

"Because you're **clinging **to him, Gold! For dear life."

Gold didn't realize this, and let go immediately. Silver took in a deep breath and shut his eyes at the loss of Gold not gripping his jacket anymore.

"You'd rather travel Johto with that red haired freak show than me! At least I'm normal!" she shouted, referring to Silver's height, piercings, hair, eyes, and his all black clothing. Silver clenched his fists in a tight fury and growled, baring his teeth like a wild Houndour. Lyra's eyes widened, and she exited the Gold household before things got worse. She left her Marill behind, and Gold bent down to pick it up, sort of sad he hadn't had a chance to defend Silver. Marill had a note attached to its tail with a pink ribbon. Gold opened it. Read it. Then crumpled it up.

**EDIT: April 3****rd****, 2011 (Okay. So I re-read this, && I see it doesn't make sense. Lyra at the beginning is like "Omg Gold you forgot to say goodbye to mee!" Then later she goes "Wait, you started your adventure without me?" It sounds stupid, but she thinks that Gold just forgot to say "goodbye" && forgot to take her with him. She didn't expect him to actually **_**start**_** the adventure without her, && with another person. Yeah. I don't feel like re-writing, so there's your explanation.)**


	7. Clear Crystal

What was wrong with Silver? He hadn't even thought twice about calling Gold his "boyfriend". He didn't know, but at the moment it just felt right. But it slipped out without him thinking. He wondered if Gold had noticed. Silver rolled his bright red eyes. Of course he noticed.

He poured himself another glass of lemonade.

"Gold.." he said warily. Gold turned to face him, the balled up piece of paper in his fist. "Are you.. okay..?"

"I'm stunned that you even care." Low blow alert. Silver's body tensed up, not stopping himself when the lemonade overflowed into his cup, splattering on the table then leaking drips on the floor.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he raised his voice, his eyebrows pulling together in anger.

"What do you think it means." Gold grabbed the mop from the closet and started cleaning up. Silver just watched him, still angry, still frowning. Gold sighed. He put the mop back when he was done and walked outside. Lyra's Marill followed, who was then followed by Silver.

"Hey Lyra! Come get your stupid Marill!" he shouted to the open air, aware that Marill would follow him.

"Do you have to be so loud?" a tall girl came up to them with minimal makeup, long blue hair and a white jacket. "Seriously. The neighbors might complain. If you're looking for Lyra, she's in Elm's lab." She looked over Gold's head to steal a glance at Silver. Silver looked away.

"Hmm. He doesn't look like much of a freak show to me.." The blue haired beauty brushed past Gold, stepping closer to Silver. "If I were you, I wouldn't listen to Lyra. She's probably jealous cause she got replaced by someone hotter than her."

Silver frowned, not sure what to say. What could he say to that?

"Lyra isn't so bad. She's pretty, too. And she didn't get replaced." Gold piped up. Silver could feel his blood boil. "So she told you everything, huh Marina?"

"Of course she did! I'm her cousin after all. By the way, nice to see you again, Gold. You haven't grown a bit!" Marina laughed.

"But you have," he gaped at the 17 year old, who was at least five ten now. "So you came back from your journey?"

"Yep. Got six badges. Two more to go, then I'll be on my way to victory. I flew here on my Pidgey just to take a quick rest. Glad I ran into you, though. Lyra told me about your first badge. That Falkner is one tough cookie, huh?"

"Yeah, he is!" Gold nodded and beamed. "But I couldn't have done it without Silver's help. I owe it all to him."

Silver could sense himself about to smile, but quickly held it in.

Marina put a hand on Silver's shoulder. "Thank you for looking out for him, Silver. It _is _Silver, right?"

He nodded.

"Good. Lyra had told me, but I just wanted to make su-" Marina noticed Silver cringe when she said her cousin's name. She took her hand off his shoulder and turned around to pick up Marill.

"I better get this back to her. Want to come along?"

Gold grinned. Silver sighed.

* * *

"Crystal? What's..? Oh, my Marill!" Lyra took her beloved Pokémon out from under the arms of Marina. "I forgot I had left her at Gold's house.. What are they doing here? Why are you with them?" she asked, giving them unfriendly glances.

"That's some way to greet an old friend. Lyra. And I don't go by Crystal anymore, so would you quit calling me that?" she huffed.

Everyone just stood awkwardly in silence. Lyra and Silver were having a nasty little stare down, while Marina and Gold felt sort of anxious. Gold swayed back and forth, slowly loosening his grip on Silver. Silver's face ceased to look livid anymore, as he glanced down at Gold. He was nervous. And he didn't like his two good friends fighting, even if Gold still wasn't too happy about what Lyra had said.

"Did you read my note."

"Every word," he lied. Lyra's eyes narrowed.

"What did it say..?"

Busted.

Gold put his hands over his face and crouched down a little. "I threw it away before I could read all of it.."

A loud gasp could be heard from Lyra, rather fake sounding. But they all knew it was real. She stomped her feet and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You're such a little spoiled brat," Silver insulted, letting the words dance across his tongue and drop like a ton of Snorlax, like it was nothing. Marina stepped in.

"This doesn't have much to do with you, does it? It's not your concern, so-"

"Gold IS my concern."

"Hello everyone! Sorry to keep you waiting, my wife was nagging me to empty out the trash, and well you know. That's my least favourite thing to do, especially when there's so much work to be done." Professor Elm walked down the stairs, fastening the buttons on his lab coat. "Oh look! The whole gang's here! Welcome everybody!"

"Professor! They're being mean to me!" Lyra whined, pointing to the precious metal duo.

Silver shook his head. That was such a lie.

"Now Lyra, don't get all worked up. I'm sure it was all just a big misunderstanding."

"Do you know how cliché you sound right now." Silver spoke up. Elm blinked and adjusted his glasses.

"That reminds me. I forgot to give you boys a Pokédex."

"What's that?" Gold tilted his head to the side.

"It's a little machine that holds the data of Pokémon and keeps track of which ones you've caught."

"How'd you know that, Silver?" Marina seemed impressed.

"I got one a few years back. It's an older model, though, since I'm from the Kanto region."

"Oh you are? I didn't know that! I am too! Now that you mention it, haven't I seen you around before?"

Silver just flipped his bangs out of his face, but they immediately fell back over his eyes.

"So.. Where is it?" Gold sounded like an eager child who was about to receive presents on his birthday.

"Follow me," Elm said as he guided them to his work place. Then he stopped suddenly and let out a nervous laugh. "Eh heh. I thought I had more of them.."

Silver went mad. "You mean to tell me you don't have enough for the two of us?" he snarled. Lyra blinked.

"Why don't you just share one. You guys seem to share everything else together-"

"Really Lyra? Hold your tongue. This is not the time nor place. You're just making things worse." Marina scolded, taking on the mother figure role.

"That's actually not a bad idea. Lyra. I don't mind sharing the Pokédex. Do you, Silver?" he looked up at him curiously. Silver just stared straight ahead and snatched the Pokédex lying on the table.

"Good then. Now that things are settled I've got another favour to ask of you."

"What now, old man?" Silver groaned, throwing his head back in irritation.

"I have an acquaintance named Mr. Pokémon. He emailed me about a rare egg he's found. I don't have much time to pick it up. So I was hoping that maybe you guys would get if for me. He doesn't live too far away-"

"Count me out." Silver said, declining the request.

"I'll go, Professor." Lyra raised her hand, shooting Silver a smug little look that alerted him in more ways than it should have.

"Good, then it's settled."

"I changed my mind. I'm going too. Besides, a couple of kids could get into danger without some adult supervision."

"A bit indecisive, are we? Since when are you so helpful? And since when are you an adult?" Marina wished she had taken back her gratitude for his looking after Gold earlier. She saw his true colours now.

"Just kidding. I don't want to go. I'm bored I'm gonna go train my Marill since I have a reason to now. Oh wait no I don't. Silver's got it." Lyra held in a laugh and left with Marina, who did the laughing for her.

**Well at least Gold's not the one doing the teasing anymore.. But this is barely an improvement. Although he did do a little teasing in the beginning of this chapter, I changed "Clear Crystal" so many times, it doesn't even make sense anymore. But later on, it will.**


	8. Rival Reunion Part 1

**Yikes. A short one. I guess this is to tie you over cause I haven't updated in a bit, && I may not for a while because I'm grounded && I lost my Blackberry that I was writing this story on. It had a LOT of chapters in it. So please bear with me for the next few chapters. :/**

Silver kicked the table he was standing beside, causing it to collapse on the ground in a heap of broken pieces. All work in the lab ceased as Marina and Lyra whirled around, their mouths agape.

"I don't see what's so funny.." he was shaking, his voice low with built up frustration, yet he was smiling, as if he were laughing along with them just a second ago. "I didn't ask to go on this journey with Gold, he followed _me. _Big deal if I decided to let him tag along."

"Well I wouldn't expect less, Silver. You guys are dating." Marina almost didn't speak up. Silver was scary.

"Not exactly.." Gold started to say, but never finished. Lyra perked up.

"Wait, what did you just say? Are you suggesting.. did Silver make the whole thing up?"

"I don't think this is the best place to be having this discussion.." Marina looked around at all the aides who had stopped their work to observe the drama that was currently going on.

* * *

Lyra's house was small. So small. Silver felt like he was in a doll house, his legs pressed up underneath the pink table in her room. Gold and Marina were on her bed, playing catch up. Lyra came in after awhile with a tray of cookies, her Marill close behind. She set them down on the table, just as Silver took five and stuffed them into his mouth.

"Hey! Those were for everybody!"

"I don't give a-"

"Hey so anyway GOLD, I got this badge from beating Morty in Ecruteak City," Marina attempted to change the subject, not wanting another blowout between the two.

"That's so cool! He uses all ghost Pokémon, right?" Gold was interested. Silver noticed. Marina nodded.

"I still hate you." He said to Lyra as he took another handful.

"I don't give a-"

"Alright you guys, maybe it's time to talk about what we all came here for." Marina clapped her hands once, like a school teacher trying to get everyone's attention. "Fill in the blank: Gold and Silver are_?"

"Well first we were rivals"

"Then we became friends"

"Then we became partners"

"And now we're dating?" Gold sounded unsure. Silver nodded.

"Awh that is soo cute! So what did you say when you asked Gold out, Silver? Was it romantic? What was the setting?" Marina watched too many romance shows on tv, and it was starting to show.

"How do you know Gold didn't ask _him_ out?" Lyra tried to hide how much she cared. Marina gave her a look.

"Oh please. Gold couldn't even gather enough courage to ask YOU out."

Gold and Lyra blushed, right on cue. Silver ripped one of her stuffed Teddiursa's arms off on impulse. She was too embarrassed to notice.

"Sooo! What happened?"

"Who cares how it happened. It's our business, right Gold?" Silver shot him a "back me up here" glance. He returned it with a blank stare.

"What business."

Silver gave him an "are you out of your mind" look. He mostly tried to communicate with his facial expressions. But Gold never picked up on them.

He stood up. "This is pointless. Just a second ago you acted like you hated me. Now you want to know about my love life? Stop being fake" Silver crossed his arms over his chest.

"Wait. I know that tone of voice.. they way you got angry just then so quickly.. you reminded me of.." Marina put her fist in her hand, with a thinking face plastered on her expression. "You're Blue's ex boyfriend!"

"Huh? How did you know.. _Crystal_?" Silver honestly looked shocked. "What.."

"..happened to you..?" Marina finished Silver's thought as he sprung up from his chair, realizing who he was looking at now, for the first time.


	9. Rival Reunion Part 2

**Right now I'm in the the library typing this up during my 6th period. I've resorted to skipping lunch just to post new chapters, since I'm grounded. I'm also very hungry. T_T**

"You two.. know each other..?" Lyra shifted her eyes back and forth between the bluenette and the ginger.

"Long story short, we were rivals.." Marina took her hat off, revealing her bright blue bangs. "You've grown taller, Heart."

"You're grown boobs, Crystal." He took his hood off.

"Why is everyone removing things from their heads?" Gold asked, averting his attention to what he should be focusing on, the fact that Marina and Silver knew each other. And the fact that Silver had an ex boyfriend. He went to go sit down next to Gold, and Gold found his arms wrap around Silver.

"Awh! Remember when you used to do that to Blue?"

Silver slid his hood back on.

"Oh come on Heart! Don't give me any of that!" Marina put her hands on her hips.

"Who's Blue-"

"Nobody." Silver was quick to answer Gold. He didn't want him to know.

"Story time!" Lyra called out cheerily, annoyingly. She took the seat that Silver once occupied, at her tea party table, when she noticed an armless Teddiursa lay on the floor with all the stuffing ripped out of it. Silver smirked at her agape face.

"Alright. It happened about three years ago, when I was 14 and Heart was 16."

"Why do you keep calling him Heart?" interrupted Lyra.

"Same reason why you keep on calling me Crystal. Anyway, we were both residents living in Kanto at the time, when we decided that we would try for the Indigo League and become rivals. So to sound tough, we called each other by our last names. Heart had gone to the last gym first for some reason, but I had skipped it because nobody was there."

"It was the first gym! It was last for you because you skipped it!"

"Same thing. Big deal. That's what I just said. Would _you_ rather tell this story, Heart?" challenged Marina. Silver looked south.

"I thought so. Anyway, when I had come back to challenge the gym I skipped finally, I found 16 year old Heart making out with the leader of the gym, in Viridian City."

Lyra gasped. She was _too_ into it.

"But wait, there's more." Marina held a hand out as if to say 'hold on.' "At the very same instant, Blue's ex boyfriend, Red had just happened to walk by."


	10. Naturally

"Whoa whoa whoa," Lyra called, making her hands into a T symbol for "timeout". "Red, like _**THE **_Red? As in, the famous Indigo League Champion?"

Marina nodded. "Anyway, so then he-"

"_Please _don't finish what happens next." Silver almost begged, but had way too much pride for that.

"Oh come on Heart, lighten up-!"

"I said NO!" he stood up and stormed out of Lyra's room, stomping down the stairs. Marina shook her head.

"You know, Heart wasn't always like this.. it wasn't until Blue broke his heart that he became.. well, heartless." She chuckled awkwardly at all the "hearts" in the sentence. No one was laughing along.

"Is that why he doesn't go by Heart anymore?" Gold wondered.

"No. Same reason why I don't go by Crystal anymore. It's just something you either grow out of or grow into. Soon enough, we'll be calling _you_ Ethan, and Lyra, Soul."

Lyra made a face. "I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon. I don't have a cool last name like you guys." She shrugged as she watched Gold go downstairs.

There, he found Silver with his back leaning up against the wall, his hands in his jacket pockets. Gold went to stand beside him. Silver slid down to sit on the floor, so it wouldn't have to be a constant struggle for them to look at each other, even though Silver wasn't meeting his gaze at all.

Then his words broke the not-so-silent air, as Lyra's TV was heard being clicked onto the Pokémon Channel.

"I dyed my hair red.."

"Hmm?" Gold couldn't quite hear.

"I _said_ I dyed my hair red." Silver spoke up, much louder this time. "I didn't know what else to do. He left me for him. I thought that if I dyed my hair the color of his boyfriend's name, he'd want me back. Love me. Notice me. _Something. _It didn't work. So then I got snakebites, because he always talked about how much he missed the Arbok he traded away for his Haunter. Little by little, I changed my appearance, hoping he'd notice, all for a guy who didn't care about me in the first place.

"I looked stupid. But I felt stupider. Crystal had seen what I had done, and she tried to comfort me, but I just pushed her away. So she did the only thing she could think of. She dyed her hair blue. After that, I didn't stand out as much. Except, with the both of us, we stood out even more. But still, it was a nice gesture, and I still can't thank her enough. I can never pay her back for it. She's one of the two people in my entire life that have ever helped me out without expecting anything in return."

Gold unexpectedly played with one of Silver's lip rings. Silver made a face.

"What are you doing?"

"Who was the other person?"

"What?"

"You said there were two people. Who was the other one?"

Silver, in a bold move, instantly crushed Gold's lips with his, the metal on his piercings irritating Gold's sensitive skin as they collided. He kissed with so much force and urgency that it barely came off as romantic. But Gold felt it somehow, deep down, and he kissed back with equal enthusiasm.

When Silver released, he simply replied "You." And that made Gold so happy; he didn't even know what to do with himself. So he did the only thing that came naturally. He clung.


	11. I Love You Too

"Let me see your eyes," pleaded Gold. The two trainers had settled into Lyra's living room, lying on the floor while the girls were upstairs, being loud and giggly. You know. Girl stuff.

"Why. They're ugly." Silver grumbled.

"No they're not."

Silver wanted to come back with a "How do you know?" but instead he merely sighed and obeyed the younger boy, propping himself up with his elbow. He took out his lenses, blinked furiously, and forced himself to look at Gold. Not surprisingly, his eyes were silver. Deciding that Gold had looked long enough, he popped them back in.

"There. Happy now?"

Gold nodded, very satisfied, with a wide grin plastered on his face. Silver lay back down and closed his eyes, only to have them flutter back open by the sound of loud footsteps coming down the stairs.

"We forgot to go to Mr. Pokémon's house!" Marina yelled as she put on her white jacket while Lyra put on her red slip on shoes. The two boys sat up and got ready as well.

Like Elm had promised, the trip wasn't too long, but that didn't stop Lyra from finding _something _to complain about, whether it was about the hot weather or her feet hurting. Silver moaned in agitation, with his Totodile leading the way. Sometimes he felt the urge to lead. Today was apparently one of those days. Gold followed close behind, clinging to Silver's arm like always. Gold shot him a smile, but Silver just kept looking straight on.

Before going to Mr. Pokémon's house, they stopped by a home that they _thought_ was his, only to find a man who wanted to give them an apricorn box. Marina took it, thanked him, and they continued forward.

Silver knocked on the door a few times when they finally found the right house, and when there was no answer, he barged right in.

"Silver!" Gold said in a voice too whiny to seem angry, as he got dragged inside by the taller male. Silver wasn't a big fan of waiting. Marina and Lyra hesitantly came in as well, looking for signs that someone was home.

Right on cue, an older man strolled out from another room of the house, sporting a mustache and a hat. He seemed a little busy.

"Um.. um.." Gold started nervously. "Pardon the intrusion. We just.. we came… uh..-"

"We came for the egg." Silver blurted out to who they all assumed to be Mr. Pokémon.

"Oh! You must be the kids Professor Elm sent to pick it up!"

Silver did a slow nod and raised an eyebrow. Who else would they be?

He ran to his desk and moments later he reappeared with it in his hands. He gave it to Gold. Silver took it from him to get a better look. The egg had little dots of blue and red, and appeared to be big in Gold's hands, but smaller in Silver's. Silver handed it back to him and Gold hugged it close to his chest.

"Alright then. Please be sure to show that to Professor Elm." He bowed and went back to his studies.

"That it? Cool. We're done here." Marina and Lyra turned to exit, with Lyra motioning for Gold to come with. Silver got left behind, staring intently at a man with a long white lab coat on. He was facing the other way, with his back turned, making an important phone call. Silver knew exactly who he was, but decided not to say anything.

"Silver, you coming?" Gold had waited up for him, most likely because of his separation anxiety for the older boy.

"Yeah," he held the door open for Gold as he walked out.

* * *

"Ah! Truly incredible. This is an excellent find! Yes, a rare one indeed!" Elm held the egg up into the light, going on and on to himself about how amazing he thought it was. Silver rolled his eyes. It was just an egg. "Well then Gold, you take good care of it." He placed it back into his hands. That set Lyra off, throwing another one of her famous temper tantrums.

"Why does _he_ get to keep the egg? You already gave him a Cyndaquil! And he's on a journey! He'll catch other Pokémon! I only have my Marill!"

"And that's all you ever WILL have if you don't shut up once in a while." Silver cut in, putting an end to her screams, finding it terribly hard to restrain himself from shouting out even more insults to the petit girl.

"No need to get angry. Here," Gold handed her the egg.

"You see, in order for that egg to hatch, it needs to be around other Pokémon. So the reason I gave him the egg was _because _he's on a journey. " Explained Elm. Lyra nodded.

"I get it. I guess.." she half-smiled at Gold. "I'm sorry for the way I've been acting lately. It's just. I don't know. I'm really happy for you." She turned to Silver, and her half-smiled turned into a full frown.

"I still hate you."

"I don't give a-"

"Okay!" Marina smiled and clapped her hands once. "I'll be outside. Goodbye Gold. Goodbye Heart. Have a nice journey. I wish you all the best." she waved goodbye and went to open the door to leave.

"Crystal?" Silver tried to get her attention. Marina turned to look at him.

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

She smiled warmly and left.

Lyra inched closer to Gold. "Say hi to my grandfolks at the Day Care Center for me, will you? They're always nagging me to drop by, but Goldenrod is so far away."

Gold nodded.

"Oh, and one more thing. When you become league champion, don't forget about me, okay?"

"I would never." He embraced her in a tight hug.

"I love you.." she whispered in his ear.

"I know. Just like the note said, right?"


	12. Saying Sorry

"Gold."

"Nnghh.." Gold tossed and turned under the bed sheets.

"Gold, wake up." Silver took a sip of his coffee, adjusting the glasses on his face. The younger boy didn't respond.

"I'm gonna count to five, and if you're not out of bed by then, I'm leaving without you."

Gold sat up, faster than a Sentret's quick attack.

Silver shook his head. "Why do I know you better than anyone else?" he stood up and took a spot beside Gold on the bed. Gold grinned.

"Because you're my boyfriend." He wrapped his arms around Silver's waist. He had gotten used to this. It was the daily routine.

"Yes, but I shouldn't have to threaten you to get you awake. You know I would never leave, yet you insist on believing otherwise. So why does that trick always work?" He got up to go put some shoes on, as Gold lay back down. Silver threw a pillow at him.

"Five more minutes. Pleeease.." His request was muffled under the covers.

"I'm not your babysitter, Gold. Get up."

"Then stop acting like one."

"What was that?" Silver turned his head to hear what Gold had to say. Gold kept his mouth shut.

"Get up," he demanded again. "Don't make me repeat myself."

Once they left the Pokémon Center in Violet City, they decided to walk around for a bit, hand in hand.

"Silver, take me on a date." Gold seemed to say out of the blue, swinging Silver's arm up and down as he walked.

"As much as I would love that, Gold, our schedule doesn't allow time for it." Silver tucked some of his hair behind his ear with his free hand.

"What schedule? And since when do you wear glasses?"

"I'm far sighted. I can't really wear real contacts because I already have these ones that make my eyes look red."

"Oh. They look nice on you! They make you look mature!" Gold beamed.

"Hah. What a backwards compliment. Did I not look mature before?" he made a face. "What did you have in mind. For a 'date', anyway. "

"You know that Bellsprout Tower that's supposed to be around here? I kinda wanted to go see it. Just to check it out." He poked his cheek with his finger.

"Cause looking at a moving pillar sway back and forth is sooo romantic." Silver rolled his eyes.

"Okay.. Ooh! What about that Ruins of Alph place! I heard there were some mysterious rare Pokemon floating around there."

"But to get there you'd have to solve some stupid puzzle first. Again. Not romantic."

"I give up." Gold let go of his hand to sit down on the grass.

Silver scratched the back of his head, seriously ticked that he had let go. "What now?"

"Nothing I do is ever going to be good enough for you, Silver! You're always like this. Ever since I met you-"

"Gold, be quiet. How dare you bring up the past. That was a while ago. Yes I treated you differently, but you never really to seemed to mind before. In fact, sometimes you'd even insult me back."

"I had to! What other choice did I have! I'm not gonna just sit there and take it and do nothing! We can't act like it was nothing! You didn't even say sorry." Gold lowered his head.

"Are you kidding me with this? Get up. You're only wasting time. We could have already been to those two places you wanted to go to if we hadn't have stopped for your little whiny complaints."

Gold's head perked up. "So you're saying we can go?"

"I never said any of that."

Gold got up, finally. "Then why are you with me? Let's just put the whole boyfriend thing aside for a minute. Why are you traveling with me period? Forget that I ever followed you around. If you didn't want me, I truly believed you would have pushed me away by now. Let's say I never helped you out. You'd probably be on like, maybe the third gym leader by now. Let's be honest. I'm holding you back. Admit it. Don't stick around just cause you think it's making me happy-"

"But does it make you happy? Me.. sticking around..?"

"Of _course_ it does, Silver! But if it's not what you want, then what are you doing? Staying with me?"

"I kissed you, didn't I?"

"Yes, but-"

"I cradled you in my arms when you were afraid of heights, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"I put up with stupid Lyra for like four days! I met your mom! I've done just about everything I could for you! I didn't _have _to, but I did! So how could you possibly think for even a second that I didn't like you?" Silver lowered himself to get closer to his face, gripping onto Gold's shoulders. "Ethan, you are the most important person to me right now. I'm sorry if I don't show it enough. I'm sorry if I'm so grumpy. But the last thing I would ever do is leave you. You're the most adorable boy I've ever met. You're so happy all the time. I wish I could be like you, but that's not me. I can't find a reason to smile at everything like you do. But when you smile, I just wish for a second, that I could genuinely smile back."

"Silver.." Gold's eyes watered up, as he broke into tiny little sobs and hugged Silver as tight as he could. "I'm so sorry I yelled at you. I didn't mean it. You don't have to act happy all the time. You're fine just the way you are. I'm sorry."

Silver sighed and rubbed the top of Gold's head, as he was still sobbing into his stomach.

"No Gold, I'm the one who should be saying sorry. I'm the one who can't do anything right."


	13. His Worst Nightmare

Silver had promised Gold that they'd go on their very first date as soon as they got to the next town. Hand in hand with their Pokémon not far behind, they approached Union Cave. Gold shook his head furiously.

"What's the matter, Gold."

"You can't make me go in there."

Silver groaned. "Gold. You know how much I hate wasting time. We could have _been_ out of that cave by now if we hadn't have stopped for your little whining."

"Silver! I said, like, _one_ sentence! Quit over exaggerating!"

"You're the one who's over exaggerating! It's just a cave." Silver pressed his lips together in a tight line, his piercings putting pressure on his mouth. Gold could feel Silver getting impatient with him, yet he still refused to move his feet. When he wouldn't budge, Silver finally picked him up.

"Hey! Put me down!"

"Shut up. We're going through this cave whether you like it or not."

"W-wait just a second!"

"No."

"Silverrrr!" Gold had been slung carelessly over the red-head's shoulder as they entered the cave against his will, kicking and screaming the entire way there.

Once they got out of Union Cave, Silver set Gold gently on his feet. Having not yet regained his balance, he wobbled a little bit and gripped onto Silver's black hoodie to keep from falling over. Silver threw his head back, something he often did when he got a headache, and suddenly felt drips of water on his face.

"Hey, Gold, it's starting to rain. Let's get out of here," suggested Silver, as he watched his Totodile splash happily in the puddles of water. Cyndaquil was shivering, which was funny, because Gold was doing the exact same thing.

Silver un-hooked one of the Pokéballs off of Gold's waist and called Cyndaquil back. He then unzipped his jacket, took it off, and put it on Gold so that he wouldn't get too wet. It was two sizes too big for him, the sleeves coming over his hands. Silver had to roll them up so that they were able to hold hands again.

As they reached Azalea Town, the rain had ceased pouring.

"Oh. That's not weird at all." Silver checked his surroundings, staring at the now sunny town and its inhabitants, completely dry, while Silver and Gold were soaked.

"Let's go find some place to dry off.." he sighed and led Gold to a cozy little house on the left of the Pokémon Center without knocking.

"Silver! Oh my goodness! Ring the doorbell first!"

"What good would that do. We're already inside."

"Pardon the intrusion!" Gold felt the need to say that to make up for Silver's rudeness.

"Sorry, if you're looking for Grandpa, he's not here." Said a little girl in pigtails, dragging along a heavy-looking Slowpoke in her tiny arms.

"Actually, we wanted to know if you had any towels.." smiled Gold politely.

"We do, but they're all dirty."

"So I'm assuming your grandpa went to the laundry mat or something?" Silver raised his eyebrows.

"No. He went to go stop Team Rocket in the Slowpoke Well from cutting off Slowpoke tails and selling them for money."

No one said a word.

"Hey, you know, we should go there! For our date-"

"Forget the date, Gold! Didn't you hear her? We have to go stop Team Rocket!"

"But why? They didn't do anything to us!"

"It just bothers me that they do things like this.." Silver looked down. Gold smiled faintly at him. _He really is a good person after all._

* * *

"It's dark in here.." Gold whined.

"I don't give a-"

"Hey! You watch your mouth young man!" said an elderly person, scolding Silver before he could finish.

"Oh no! You look hurt! Silver, help him up!"

"No need for that, I'll be fine. I actually ran down here because I wanted to stop Team Rocket, and-"

"Yeah yeah we know. Just tell us where they are."

"Oh Silver. Don't be rude." Gold made a face. Silver gawked down at him in disbelief.

"Do you not know me at _all_?"

"Listen," Gold said to the old man, now ignoring Silver. "What did you say your name was again?"

"Kurt. I make a living creating Pokéballs out of Aprico-"

"He didn't ask you what your occupation was!" growled Silver.

"Oh! I've got some Apricorns! Oh no wait.. Marina has my Apricorn box." Gold sulked. Seriously?

"Alright, I'm goin' in. I could have already beaten Team Rocket by now if you hadn't have stopped to chat."

"Silver, stop it!" Gold frowned as Silver walked away. What was wrong with him lately? "Wait, I wanted to come with you!"

"Wouldn't you rather talk to your new friend Kurt? That's the problem with you. You get distracted too easily." And with that, he left to go do some damage to Team Rocket.

* * *

"We should go check up on him. What if he needs our help.." said Gold, growing more and more worried as the time passed.

"Alright," Kurt got up as they entered further into the well. Team Rocket was nowhere to be found.

"Where'd they go? You beat them?" Kurt asked, more amazed than a Zubat's astonish attack.

"It wasn't very difficult. They think they're all big and tough as long as they're in a group, but get them alone and they're weak. I hate them all." Silver pushed his way past the two and climbed out of the well, with Gold and Kurt slowly following.

"Ah, how can I thank you enough?" Kurt exclaimed, as Silver took his jacket off of Gold and put it on himself. They were all at Kurt's house again.

"You could thank us by showing us where the next town is," Silver said with no emotion.

"Take a left through Ilex Forest. You'll need the gym badge from Bugsy to get through some of the trees, though."

"Wait, why?"

"Because he gives you the HM Cut, and you can't use it without his gym badge." The little girl answered Silver this time.

"I'll just climb over them. Come on, Gold." He grabbed his hand and dragged him out.

"Wait, you should listen to them, Silver!"

"I don't give a-"

"Well well well, if it isn't Heart. Long time no see," a tall man with messy reddish-brown hair casually walked up behind them, crossing his arms over his chest. Silver and Gold turned around slowly.

"You've gotta be kidding me.." Silver shut his eyes real tight, waiting for his worst nightmare to be over.


	14. Before

**Flashback**

**3 Years Ago**

**Kanto Region**

"Heart, I'm not exactly sure that we should be doing this!" Marina whispered, gazing around restlessly to see if anyone would catch her.

"Crystal, it's fine, I promise! Don't be such a baby," teased Silver.

"Then why are you hiding behind a tree, if everything's so 'fine'." She crossed her arms over her chest. She loved being right, especially since nowadays she seemed to be wrong about everything. Except for tonight.

Tonight, they were sneaking out of their small town in Pallet, and moving on to bigger and better things: Becoming Pokémon trainers. But they decided not to tell their parents about it. Because it was kind of a big deal.

"Heart, if we get in trouble for this, I won't forgive you."

"Oh come on Mari- I mean.. Crystal. This is how it has to be. We'd get caught in broad daylight."

"Hmm. Yeah. But it was awfully nice for Professor Oak to give us our very first Pokémon. And this cool looking Pokédex thingy!" she flipped the shiny red handheld machine open and closed.

"Um, he kind of has to. It's part of his job. And stop that! You'll break it! Jeez, do you know anything?" Silver huffed.

"Yes I _do_ thank you very much! I'm just.. I'm so excited to be going on this journey! I've never been out on my own before. Me and my Bulbasaur are gonna win so many badges, it'll be a piece of pie!"

"I think you mean a piece of cake. And you keep telling yourself that, but it's harder than it looks. A little girl like you will get eaten alive in this Pokémon world." Silver smirked. Marina hit his head, full of messy blonde hair. His silver eyes grew wide in mock shock. "I'm gonna make you pay for that!" he screamed as he chased her.

The two ran down Route 1 until they made it to Viridian City, stopping to catch their breath, then collapsed on the pavement, laughing. Marina pulled back her short wavy chocolate brown hair out of her face right before it fell back again.

"Look at this place! It's incredible!"

"Crystal, it's just another town. What's so incredible about it." Silver got up and extended a hand to Marina, helping her off the grass.

"Yeah, but, I've never been outside of Pallet Town before! I could care less about Pokémon, really. I just want to see what's out there."

"But weren't you just 'so excited' to win badges and stuff?" Silver's eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

"Yes, I know. But that's just to see if I could do it. Plus, the badges are so darn shiny!"

No one said a word.

"Who the heck doesn't like Pokémon? "

"I never said I didn't like them. I just.. I like the idea of traveling. That's all. And with you and my Pokémon, I won't have to be alone. "Marina smiled, and Silver frowned in a response to her putting a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks for being my friend."

"We're rivals now, Marina. We can't be friends anymore."

"Then why did you just call me _Marina_!" she pointed a finger at him. "Ha-ha! Race you to the Pokémon Center!" Marina challenged in a childish manner and dashed into the red and white building, with Silver close behind.

"Nurse Joy! So nice to see you again!" grinned Marina, full of enthusiasm so late at night.

"Again? This isn't the same one, Crystal. "Silver set their stuff down in an empty room.

"But! But! She's got the same face!"

"Oh, you must be talking about my sister, in Pallet Town." Joy explained.

"Twins?" Marina guessed.

"Nooo.." Joy shook her head.

"Come on Crystal, stop bothering the nurse and let's go to bed. I'm sure she's very busy."

"Actually, I'm not. I don't get too many visitors who stop by this late. What are you two kids doing up at this hour, anyway?"

"So, you guys talk the same, look the same, and have the same name.. but you're not _twins_?"

Silver banged his head against the door. "Jeez, do you ever quit talking? We could have been asleep already!"

"Okay, okay. I'm coming, Heart! Don't be so grumpy." Marina went in their room and shut the door behind them.

_Tomorrow, we start our journey together! How exciting._

Marina woke up the next morning. Without Silver. She climbed out of bed, and found a note lying on the counter.

_Crystal,_

_I've went and gone ahead without you. You can't always rely on me. You've got to learn to figure things out on your own. No offense. Be safe._

_Heart_

"The only thing I'm offended by is how you think it'd hurt me if you left me." She folded the note up and stuffed it into the back pocket of her shorts.

_I'm not a baby anymore. I just turned 14 a month ago._

* * *

Marina took in a deep breath as she stood in front of the doors of the Viridian City gym, prepared for whatever would happen next.

"This is it. Now or never. Here goes nothi-"

"Hey! Excuse me!" a young man came running toward Marina as he observed her giving herself a pep talk from a far.

"Yes?"

"No one's in that gym," he informed.

* * *

A creaky sound could be heard coming from the room Silver and Marina shared back at the Pokémon Center. Silver open the bathroom door just a crack and peered around the empty bedroom. Good. The coast was clear. He dragged his bags out and took a sip of the coffee that Marina had left for him on the counter.

Marina..

He didn't know why, but Silver had felt a sudden twinge of guilt appear into the pit of his stomach. Sure, he had lied, but it was better this way, wasn't it? Besides, he figured he'd catch up to her eventually. It wouldn't be so hard. It _was_ Marina, after all. Oblivious, short, pudgy, happy-go-lucky Marina. Yeah. She'd never change.

* * *

Silver took in a deep breath as he stood in front of the doors of the Viridian City gym, prepared for whatever would happen next.

"Alright, here I come. I'm gonna be the best. The very best. Like no one ever wa-"

"Hey kid. Are you just going to stand there all day talking to yourself, or are you going to challenge me to a battle?"

Silver whirled around, now standing before a tall male in a purple sweater, one hand resting on his hip.

"Yeah, but-"

"Okay, then, come on! Right this way." The man took his hand and he led him into the gym. "My name's Blue, by the way. What's your name?" he smiled.

"Heart.." Silver blushed and looked down. Why was he feeling so nervous all of a sudden? Sure, he was about to have his first battle (with a gym leader, no less!), but it wasn't _that_ kind of nervous. It was something else, and as Blue shot him another smile once more, Silver knew exactly what it was.


	15. After

"Do you ever notice how ridiculously tall you are for your age?" Blue asked Silver as Silver was sitting on his lap.

"No. I'm only 5'9."

"And I'm 6'1."

"So.. that means.." Silver counted on his fingers. "We're 5 inches apart!"

Blue grinned. "Close. 4 inches apart."

"Same thing!" Silver folded his arms across his chest.

"You just hate to be wrong, don't you." Blue leaned in for a kiss.

Marina sighed as she sat up against the Viridian City gym, feeding her Bulbasaur a berry. How long was Blue gonna sit there and make her wait for a battle? Weren't they getting tired of kissing each other every five seconds yet? When she came back to challenge this gym, she hadn't expected to see Silver here, and dating the gym leader, either!

Wait. Who's that? A young man wearing a red and white hat, a white shirt, red vest with a white collar, and some tight fitting denim jeans slowly approached the entrance of the gym, as Silver and Blue were making out on the front steps. He took his hat off, revealing a head of choppy jet-black hair, and placed it on his Pikachu, who had been sitting on his shoulder.

"Gary.." the boy sounded impatient.

Blue and Silver looked up to see who it was standing there, and Blue panicked, pushing Silver off of his lap.

"Red!" Blue stood up now, ignoring everything else around him. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you. But I'm starting to wish that I hadn't. " He put his hands in his pockets and walked away, as if it was nothing. But he was really offended. Blue could see that, and went to go chase after him.

"Okay! Don't mind me! I'm just wanting to get my last gym badge here! We'll battle tomorrow, okay?" Marina said in a cheery-sarcastic voice. Then she frowned and stood up. "That just makes me mad! I _came_ for a gym battle! Sheesh! I don't have time to wait on that guy forever."

No one said anything.

"Hello-o! Heart? This is the part where you say 'Yeah, you could have already beaten my boyfriend by now if we hadn't have been making out so much.'"

Silver stayed silent, still on the ground from when Blue had pushed him, not even bothering to get up.

"Are you feeling okay?" Marina took his hand and pulled him up, which wasn't easy since Silver was bigger than her.

"Who was that?" Silver seemed lost in his own thoughts. Marina shook her head.

"I don't know. But I wish he would have waited to show up out of nowhere, so that I could have my battle."

"Oh Crystal," he patted her shoulder, snapping back to real life. "He would have beaten you anyway."

* * *

"Heart, we need to talk.." Blue closed the door in his room, where Silver had been staying ever since they got together.

"What is it?" he was on his bed, when Blue came in to join him.

"I don't really know how to say this, and there's no easy way to.. but.."

"Who was that?"

"Hm?"

"That guy.. that you were with.."

"Oh!" Blue's frown turned into an instant smile. "That was Red. That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. Um.. The thing is.. Silver.." Blue held both of his hands in his. Silver tensed up.

_He used my real name. This can _not_ be good.._

"Me and Red have known each other for a while now, and I've dated him once before. We decided that we wanted to give each other another shot.."

Silver's eyes began to water. Why was he doing this to him?

"I'm sorry, Silver. We should.. end this now, while our relationship is still on a happy note. Me and you- we're just two different people. And I actually may be a bit too old for you."

"That never seemed to stop you before. So why does it bother you now." He pulled his hands away from Blue's and ran out of the room, slamming the door on the way out. So much for ending on a happy note.

* * *

"Excuse me, have you seen my friend Heart anywhere around here? I was just about to have a battle with his boyfriend, but I don't know where he we-"

"He's not my boyfriend anymore." Silver lowered his head.

"_Heart?_ What in the world.." Marina hesitated to reach out and touch his now flaming red locks. "He dumped you.. so you go and dye your hair red? And for what?"

"Just leave me alone, okay? It's none of your business!" Silver jogged in the other direction, misty-eyed.

A few days later, Silver had come across a short girl with curly neon blue hair, training her Bulbasaur, as he was taking a walk.

"Hi, Heart!" she called out to him.

"How do you know my name?" Silver had stopped in his tracks. Who was this girl?

"It's me, Crystal!" she waved excitedly, and then looked up at her hair, falling from the corner of her vision. "Oh! How silly of me. I forgot that I had dyed my hair.."

No one said anything.

"..why?" Silver blurted out. What would make her do that?

"I know how much you're hurting right now, and that you're going through a difficult time.."

"Get to the point."

"Okay, okay, Heart. Getting to the point, I wasn't gonna just sit there and let you suffer alone!"

"So you went and dyed your hair blue? How does that affect me?" Silver was more skeptical than grateful.

"'Cause it's the color of your ex boyfrie- Okay okay don't kill me!" Marina jumped back when Silver raised his fist, acting like he was about to punch her for mentioning Blue. "You're a freak. I've heard some things around this city. From a LOT of people. Trust me. They tease you and call you names behind your back. If I dyed mine blue, then we'd both be freaks together!"

"But you don't understand: I dyed it red to get Blue back!"

"Ohhhh. Oops. Well I've already gone and done it now. There's not much going back. Unless I dyed it back to brown, but I don't have the money. I can't afford it. Speaking of, how did _you_ afford dying your hair?"

"I bought the DIY pack at the Pokémart."

"Aww shoot!" she stomped her foot in anger. "I didn't think of that!"

Silver smiled. He was really lucky to have someone like Marina.

"I'm getting red contacts next. And piercings."

"Isn't that a little much? Contacts could be fun though.. for me.." she thought about it.

"This isn't for you! This is for me!"

"But I've already dyed my hair! Brown eyes with blue hair are dumb."

Silver shook his head and sat down on the grass, watching Marina as she continued to train for her gym battle against the boy who broke his heart.


	16. In Your Dreams

**Present Day**

**Johto Region**

"What are you doing here.." Silver almost didn't speak. Sometimes he could tell when he was asleep, and when things weren't real, but he _really_ wanted to wake up from this one.

"I came back in time to warn you not to date me."

No one dared to speak a word.

Blue laughed like crazy.

"I'm just kidding! Sheesh. You should have seen the look on your face. God, Heart, why are you so.. tall?" Blue inched closer to the younger boy, now having to stare up at his eyes. "Three years ago, I was the tallest. Things change, huh.." Blue got lost in his own thoughts.

"And who is this little guy?" he noticed Gold, hiding behind Silver, grabbing his arm with both hands. "Is he lost?"

"No. He's with me."

More laughs from Blue.

"Jeez, Heart, do you even _**have**_ a type? How could you go from this-" he gestured to himself- "to _this_?" He pointed to Gold.

"Just tell me what you're doing here," Silver began to get impatient.

"Well. Word is that someone in this town saved all the Slowpoke and beat Team Rocket. I wanted to come check it out, find out who it was, and see for myself." Blue looked around. "Do _you_ know who that person was? That stopped Team Rocket?"

"That would be me," Silver pointed to himself.

Even more laughs from Blue.

"Hah! Quit lying. _You_ beat them? In your dreams!"

"Why is that so hard to believe? I hate the weak. Pokémon, Trainers. It doesn't matter who or what. I hate to see them hanging around. That goes for Team Rocket, too." Then Silver bent down a little to get in close to Blue's face. "You stay out of my way. You won't be an exception if you get in my way."

What was Silver doing? He would have never said any of the things he was saying right now to Blue in real life, but he had found the courage to speak to him this way, because it was a dream. It had to be. Silver had a 6th sense about these things.

He woke up.

Silver sat up, and sighed. He glanced down at Gold, lying in bed beside him, sleeping like a baby. Silver groaned groggily and put his face in his hands. Then he looked around.

_Where am I?_

"So you had absolutely no clue where you were this mourning? Haha!" Gold laughed, holding hands with Silver as they both walked through the Ilex Forest. All kinds of Pokémon were walking around. Some in trees. Some flying above in the sky.

"Nope." Silver would never get used to Gold teasing, even if he _had_ been letting up recently.

"How's it feel, now? Looks like the shoe's on the other foot." They both stopped walking to ogle the other's shoes. Silver, in his favourite pair of black Converse with the red laces; Gold in a pair of lace-up Vans, kind of like a mahogany color.

"I like your shoes," they both said in unison. Gold smiled and thanked him, taking his whole arm and grabbing on to it, while Silver just rolled his eyes and stroked Gold's hair. They were always thankful when they found funny moments like this, because they seldom had any.

"Whoa, what is that?" Gold pointed his finger at a weird looking bird with a leek in his hand.

"I'm not.. sure. I'd be lying if I said I knew." Silver and Gold approached the bird with caution, stepping on a few branches along the way. It got startled and ran away in the other direction.

"Oh, would you look at that." sighed Silver. "It got away."

"Nooo! I wanna catch it!" Gold ran after the Pokémon.

"Gold, wait! You could get lost, or hurt, or.. something.." Silver sighed again. What was the point?

"Hey, um. Excuse me? I was just wondering if you could help me out?" a young man came out of what seemed like nowhere, having a worried expression on his face.

"Yes?" answered Silver.

"Um.. I lost my Farfetch'd in this forest just now, and I can't seem to find it anywhere. Could you help me?"

"Oh, would you look at that," Silver glanced over his shoulder as Gold appeared with a Farfetch'd in his arms.

"Found it!"

"Oh my goodness! Thank you so much!" the boy thanked as Gold set the Farfetch'd down on the ground.

"So that's what this thing is called.." Silver rubbed his chin. The boy nodded.

"Yeah! You know, if you wouldn't have found him for me, I would have lost my job. You see, we need this Farfetch'd to cut things for us. He's really quite useful."

No one said anything.

"Why not just use a saw?" Silver blinked.

"Hey! Did you find it, yet?" a muscular looking person came running up to where they were, out of breath.

"Yeah! Thanks to these two!"

"Hmm.." the man looked at both Silver and Gold. He seemed kinda intimidating.. to Gold, anyway. But then he flashed them a smile, and Gold smiled back.

"Well how 'bout that! I owe you kids something, I suppose, so why don't I give you an HM!"

Silver and Gold obtained the HM01Cut!

"To use it, though, you'll have to beat Bugsy."

"Who's that?"

The two guys gave Gold a look.

"He's the gym leader of Azalea!"

"Oh no. That old man was right." Silver groaned and threw his head back.

"What old man?" the boy wondered.

"Kurt! He makes Poké balls out of Apricorns, and-"

"Yeah, yeah, Gold. I think he knows that."

"Why are you so upset, Silver?" he asked as he got dragged out of the forest.

"Because I checked the map at the Pokémon Center- which reminds me, we need to get ourselves one- and once you leave Ilex Forest, you're in Goldenrod City!"

Gold didn't catch on.

"Don't you see? I wanted to take you on our date as soon as I could. In Goldenrod, there are so many shopping malls and nice restaurants, and.." Silver felt himself growing flustered more and more with every word he spoke. Gold gasped and just stood there, a vacant expression on his face.

"What now? Why'd you stop walking?" he watched Gold motion for him to bend down closer to him, and as he did, he whispered something in his ear. After he was done, Silver stood all the way up, crossing his arms over his chest.

"When exactly were you planning on telling me this, Gold..?"


	17. Switching Places

For the first time in a long time, Gold and Silver weren't walking hand in hand, keeping their distance from each other. They arrived at their destination. The Azalea Gym. On the way in, Silver still held the door open for Gold. Gold smiled faintly and thanked him, making his way in.

The whole place looked like a big, gigantic forest, with trees, grass, and even a see-through ceiling so that you could see the sky.

Silver looked around. _Weren't we just outside?_

"Bugsy made this gym to replicate the outdoors. He felt like he could get an edge this way, battling where he was comfortable." A stubby man with glasses acknowledged them, as if he could read Silver's thoughts.

"That's cheating." Silver glanced around him, when he realized something important. "And how exactly are we supposed to get across to him?"

"Ahh! Sp.. sp.. spiders!" Gold stuttered and wasted no time clinging to Silver. All the anger that Silver had been feeling earlier had suddenly vanished, as he now bent down face to face with Gold.

"Gold. Listen to me. They're not real.." Silver turned his head to double check. "Actually.. I'm not sure.." he looked back at Gold and frowned. Then he stood up, looking at the guy now. "What is this? Why does _every_ gym have to have something that scares my boyfriend?"

"Take it up with Bugsy. Pull the red lever to go left, and once you pull the blue, the line will sink in, so then you can glide on the red wire. Then after you're done with that, take the blue wire again and that'll lead you to-"

"Forget it. We'll figure it out. Come on, Gold," he said, grabbing Gold's hand. But Gold wouldn't move. "I'm not picking you up this time." Gold wasn't going anywhere, knowing that Silver's patience would eventually run out. Silver sighed and jumped on to the spider that resembled a Spinarak. Gold panicked and got on with him. Silver knew that this would happen, and rubbed Gold's head, like a little puppy. Gold wrapped his arms around his waist.

"See? This isn't so scary, now is it?"

"No.." Gold admitted, still frightened a little bit by all of this. But he was glad that he'd never ever have to battle without him.

* * *

"I'm sorry, I can't let you two battle me as a team."

"What?" Silver was furious upon hearing the news from the bug Pokémon gym leader. "But that's what we've always done!"

"Oh well. It's either or. Not both."

"But that takes longer! We're on this quest _together_. So let us battle you. Together!" Silver couldn't believe what he was hearing. Bugsy shook his head, his lavender locks shaking everywhere.

"Fine. I'll compromise. Tag team."

"Tag.. like.. the two of us? Switching places?"

Bugsy nodded.

"Is that okay with you, Gold?" Silver wanted to know. Gold shook his head.

"Well, it's gonna have to be."

* * *

"This match will be between the gym leader of Azalea Town, Bugsy, and the two challengers Gold from New Bark and Silver from Pallet, alternating out when necessary. Each trainer is allowed three Pokémon each, but the leader may NOT substitute."

"So." Bugsy took a step forward on the battlefield. "Who will go first."

Gold and Silver pointed at each other.

"Silver! You go!"

Silver made a face and snatched a Pokéball off of his waist.

"BEGIN!"

"Come on, Totodile!" Silver threw his Pokéball in the air, and out came said Pokémon, emerging with a bright shimmering light.

"Go, Scyther!" Bugsy called out.

"Okay Totodile. Don't let me down. Use your Water Gun!"

Totodile did as told, but sadly Scyther's Quick Attack got to him first.

"Okay, now use Bite!"

Totodile didn't move.

"What the.. Totodile, I gave you a command! Do it! Use Bite!"

Totodile is loafing around.

"Oh my God.." Silver put his palm on his forehead and moved it up, his bangs going out of his face as he did.

"Maybe you need to train your Totodile more. Go Scyther, U-Turn!" after Scyther made his attack, he got withdrawn and out popped a Kakuna in his place.

"Don't tell **me** how to train my Pokémon! Totodile, seriously, use Bite this time!"

Totodile wouldn't listen. Totodile used Rage instead. Silver took in a deep breath.

"Totodile, you _know_ that doesn't even make sense! Rage grows stronger when your opponent attacks you! That cocoon thing hasn't even made a move!"

"Hey! It's _called_ a Kakuna! Go Kakuna, use String Shot!" Bugsy's second Pokémon had shot the sticky spider web substance and covered Totodile all in it. Silver threw his hands in the air out of frustration. What could possibly go wrong now?

"What level is your Totodile?"

"Um I don't know. Maybe Level 20? Level 25? Why?"

"If that was the case, then wouldn't it be a Croconaw by now?"

"Get to the point." Silver crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.

"The point: I'm assuming you got the badge from Falkner. So. That means that Totodile won't listen. Because with The Zephyrbadge, only Pokémon up to Level 20 will obey you."

"But Totodile used Water Gun when I asked."

"Yeah, well, that doesn't always work."

Silver sighed. Gold wasn't about to like him very much after this. He jogged backwards to where Gold was standing and slapped his hand, still facing forward. Gold's gray eyes shut in response to the pain.

"Ow!"

"Go. You're up."

"What.. No! You were supposed to win, so that I wouldn't have to battle!"

"What ever happened to that fearless kid I first met who always wanted to challenge me to a battle? Where is that kid? Cause I sure don't see him right now."

"That was before I found out battling _with_ you rather than against you was way more special."

Silver blushed. "D-don't say things like that so suddenly!" Gold felt Silver's hand on the back of his head, pushing him forward. "What other choice do I have? Totodile's being ridiculously disobedient. I'm done dealing with it, so you go in my place for a little bit, m'kay? So that I can figure out a strategy."

Gold looked up at him.

"But! But!" Gold tugged on Silver's sleeve. Silver shook his head and bent down to kiss him on the cheek.

"Go. You'll do fine."

"Okay.." Gold said in a tiny voice and threw Cyndaquil's Pokéball in the air.

"How brave. So glad you could join us. Lucky for you, we won't be going easy. Kakuna, Tackle, now!" Bugsy commanded as Kakuna carried through with the attack.

"Alright Cyndaquil. Are you ready? Cause I'm sure not! Use your Flamewheel! "

It's super effective!

Bugsy's Kakuna fainted in one move.

"Kakuna, return!" Bugsy clutched Kakuna's Pokéball in his hand and reached for another one. "Alright, this one never gets old. You're up again, Scyther."

Scyther emerged from the Pokéball, pinching its claws together in anticipation.

"Gold, tag me!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Gold ran back to Silver and tagged his hand. "But what are you going to do? Totodile won't listen to anything you tell him to!"

"Who said I was going to use Totodile?"


	18. Worth The Wait

**Happy Birthday to Pokémon! This marks the 15th anniversary of when the original Green && Red games came out in Japan! Also, happy Birthday to Elizabeth (Lady Tsuru27). I'm dedicating this chapter to you. ^^**

"Who said I was using Totodile?"

No one said anything.

"Eh? Who, then? Who are you going to use?" Gold had no idea. He assumed Totodile was his only Pokémon.

Silver almost laughed. "You're cute. Don't worry about it. You'll see. Right now, actually." He took some steps forward and released a new Pokémon, one with an eerie purple glow.

"Silver! When did you get that Gastly? It's so scary looking!"

"Gold, be quiet. You're such a baby. I didn't wanna tell you cause I knew you'd freak out about it. A couple nights ago while we were still in Violet, I snuck out to the Bellsprout Tower without you and caught my friend Gastly here."

"Hey! I told you I wanted to go there!"

"But you were sleeping when _I_ wanted to go, which was at night. You know I have insomnia. I get bored, so I go walk around. Don't be so mad. I caught you something too."

"What is it?"

Silver gave him a look. "What do you think it is."

Gold shook his head.

"It starts with a B and ends with an ellsprout."

Gold shook his head again.

"It's a Bellsprout!"

"Ohh!" Gold smiled. "Thank you, Silver, I appreciate that!"

"Whatever. Why give it to you when you can't even figure out the name. You know, I _should_ release it. Then we'd be even about what you told me yesterday in Ilex Forest-"

"Hey? Remember me? The gym leader you're in the middle of battling?"

"Can't you see I'm trying to have a conversation here?"

"Just do what you came here for. Go, Scyther, use Quick Attack!"

Scyther tried, but his claws went right through Gastly. Silver smirked as he watched his new Pokémon use Lick.

"Wha-? How is that possible? You didn't even tell it to do anything yet, but it attacked on it's own!" Bugsy was truly blown away.

Silver flipped his bangs out of his face with his head and just stared at Gastly. Gastly did a little nod and used Hypnosis on Scyther. Scyther fell to the ground, snoring, while Silver walked backwards and poked Gold in the stomach.

"See that? You don't even have to do anything. It's asleep, so all you gotta do is attack. You're welcome." Silver sat criss-cross applesauce on the ground, with his Gastly hovering close beside.

"What do you mean 'you're welcome'?"

"Gold! I basically did all of the work for you! You're the finisher, so go and finish this match! Before he wakes up." He took out a piece of candy and started chewing on it.

"Can I have one?"

"_After _you win." Silver smiled. It threw Gold off because it wasn't a real smile. It was a teasing one. He got what Silver was trying to do. He was trying to motivate him. But he didn't like the way he was going about it.

"Alright, fine. Go, Cyndaquil, use Ember or something," Gold commanded un-enthusiastically.

"Gold, are you gonna take this seriously or not?" Silver yelled at him, feeding another piece of candy to Gastly.

"Hm? Oh. I guess I'm too distracted by your selfishness to really give it my all in this battle."

Silver blinked. His plan had backfired. Gold was way too good at turning the tables on him. It didn't really matter much in the end though, because they had won the match. The Hivebadge was theirs. Afterwards, Gold held out a hand to Silver. Silver blushed and rose to his feet.

"Thanks, but I can get up by myself."

Gold tilted his head to the side. "Help you up? I was just wanting that piece of candy you promised me."

Later in the day, Silver and Gold had headed into a Pokémon Center, with Gold sitting in a booth, waiting for Silver to finish healing up their Pokémon. This had quickly become another routine of theirs, ever since their first gym battle. When Silver was done, he sat down next to Gold and put his arm around him. Gold beamed and nuzzled his head under Silver's chin.

"Oh Gold," Silver sighed. "Did I ever tell you how lucky I am to be with you?"

"Silver!" Gold sat up more.

Silver looked at him.

"What?"

"That was really sweet of you! What you said just now!"

"Yeah, well. Not very many cute people like you come into my life too often."

"Hmm. I'd say that _I'm _the lucky one here."

"I disagree. You could probably find a guy ten times better than me. Someone who doesn't yell at you. Someone who could give you the whole entire world.." Silver's eyes floated up to the ceiling.

"You yell because you care."

His eyes then went around in a full circle.

"What did you think of me when you first met me? Be honest." Silver got a little anxious. He honestly didn't know what Gold would say. Gold thought for a moment.

"I thought, 'Wow, he's tall.'"

It was quiet for a while.

"Be serious, here!"

"I _am_ being serious! I thought, 'Wow look at that tall guy staring into that window. He looks pretty hot in all black. Hot.. as in.. he must be burning up, since it's like 90 degrees outside.'"

"Gold, shut up."

Gold giggled. "What did you think of me?"

"I thought, 'Man this kid is annoying.'"

"Hey!" Gold punched him lightly in the shoulder. Silver smirked.

"Okay, okay. Do you want to know what I really thought about you? As I grew to know you more, I came to find out that you're amazing. I thought, 'This beautiful boy, with his silky black hair, his perfectly smooth skin, his incredible smile, and his shining gray eyes.. he came into my life for a reason.'"

"And what reason was that?"

"So that I could have you all to myself.." he kissed him lightly on the lips. Gold blushed as Silver took it a step further and climbed on top of him, hovering, and grabbing onto the table for support.

"S-Silver! Wait a minute!" Gold's cries were being ignored, as Silver got a bit rougher with his kisses, using his tongue. Gold tried to wriggle out from under him, but Silver had grabbed both his wrists with his free hand and pinned them against the wall. Gold finally gave in, letting Silver have his way with him. When he realized that Gold wasn't kissing back, he slowly positioned himself off of him, and let go of his wrists. They both sat up awkwardly.

"You didn't want to.. did you..?" Silver asked in a low voice. Gold shook his head.

"Then why did you let me keep going..?"

"I.. I tried to tell you but.. but you wouldn't listen. And you were so forceful, I couldn't get out of your grip, and it all happened so fast. Plus, we're in a very public place.."

They both looked around.

"No one's here, Gold. So that can't be the issue."

Gold just stared down at his lap.

"Are you scared? Of me?"

Gold shook his head. "I'm scared of what you might do to me.."

"You mean, going all the way?"

Gold nodded. Silver made a face.

"So what you're telling me is that you're not ready. To do that kind of thing with me." He bit his lip, the realization washing over him. "Of course you weren't. You're only 16." Silver rubbed Gold's head. Gold clung to him.

"I'm sorry. Are you mad at me?"

"No, Gold, I'm not mad at you. I just.. I want you so badly." He shut his eyes real tight.

_You better be worth the wait._


	19. I Swear I'll Change

"Hey Gold? What's your favorite color?"

"Mmm.." Gold thought about it for a while. The couple had been strolling along for a bit in Ilex Forest, making their way to the next city, hand in hand. Just like old times.

Pointing a finger, Gold raised his hand up to Silver's face. Silver frowned. "You know, you don't have to say that I'm your favorite color just to make me happy."

"But does it make you happy? You being my favorite color?"

"I could take it or leave it." He turned red.

"Hmm. Okay. So, what's yours?"

"Blue." Silver answered Gold's question a little too quickly.

"Oh.. okay.." Gold did nothing to hide the disappointment in his voice. "Well for someone who likes blue so much, you sure do wear an awful lot of black all the time."

"So? You never complained about it before! What, is it too 'scary' for you?"

Gold let go of Silver's hand, as the older male scrunched up his face in anger. He wasn't expecting that. But certainly somewhere along the way, a line got crossed.

"Making fun of my fears isn't exactly a nice thing to do."

"Before you met me, I wasn't exactly nice to begin with, kid."

"What? Since when did you start calling me kid again? Have we just reverted all the way back to the beginning?"

Jokingly, Silver held his hand out in response. "Hi, I'm Silver. Don't think we've met before. What's your name?"

Gold had had just about enough. That wasn't funny.

"I'm leaving," he turned around and went on without him.

"Am I the only one who thinks starting over wouldn't be such a bad thing?" Silver yelled, his voice echoing all across the forest.

With tears in his eyes, Gold turned on his heels. "Not when we worked so hard to get to where we are now!" he blinked, teardrops falling right on cue.

Silver took a step towards him.

"No! You stay _right_ there! Was I stupid to think that this would actually work out? I'm serious, Silver! You say one thing and then mean another! I'm tired of trying to figure it out. When we battled Falkner, when we kissed, everything. I thought you'd change. I don't know what I was thinking. Because you never did." He continued to make his way out of the forest, not once looking back.

It was very quiet in the Pokémon Center in Goldenrod City. I guess many trainers were stocking up on potions, because Nurse Joy didn't seem to be needed at the moment. As soon as she took off on her break, Gold walked in, his Cyndaquil right on his tail. Excitedly, a tall blue haired girl hit the shoulder of a much smaller girl with long brown hair several times, as they sat at a table.

"Look, look! There's Gold!" the girl waved at him, trying to get his attention.

"Um jeez could you be more obvious? I think he sees us." The smaller girl waited for a while, and then ran up to hug him. He hugged her back.

"Gold!"

"Lyra! And Marina! It's so good to see you guys!"

"Same here. Yeah, hey, uh, where's _Heart_?" Marina glanced around, but the 19 year old was nowhere to be seen.

Gold shook his head.

"Oh, no! He broke up with you already?" Lyra said in a teasing manner.

"No. _I _broke up with _him._"

Their eyes grew wide. Marina gave Lyra a slap on the arm.

"I told you you shouldn't joke about stuff like that!"

"Ow! I was kidding! I didn't know that something like that would really happen! Those two stick to each other like glue." She adjusted the yellow bag on her shoulder and ran a hand through her hair, several times.

"What happened?" asked Marina.

"We got into an argument.."

"Did you tell him we were going to be here?"

"Mmm. Yeah. I told him everything the other day."

"He faked it." Marina sounded sure of herself.

"Come again?"

"Distracting you and making you _believe_ you got into a fight, so he wouldn't have to come. He knew we would be here, and he didn't want it to be awkward. Whatever he said, he knew it would bug you. That's what I think, anyway."

"Yeah, but I'm still friends with you guys. It doesn't have to be awkward.. right?"

Lyra and Marina gave each other uneasy glances.

"Well, you guys are over, right?" Lyra smiled. "It'll be okay."

"Who said we were over?"

Everyone turned around to see Silver bust through the door. He made a beeline for Gold and stared him down, coming off rather intimidating.

"We're not over, _right_, Ethan?" he smiled a twisted little smile that made Gold's stomach turn, as he replied "no" in a voice barely audible to anyone in the room. Silver stood up straight after he had heard Gold's answer, satisfied that he had won this time.

"Heart.. Can I talk to you for a minute..?" Marina grabbed his arms before he could say yes and led him to the far corner.

"Are you insane? What do you think you're doing to poor Gold? It just.. disturbs me! The way you treat him! You basically forced him into saying no!"

"I didn't force him to do anything. I asked him a question, and he answered back. In his own words. And by the way, I'm not exactly happy to see you right now."

"Why."

"Like you don't know. Gold told me you and Lyra are starting a rival team against us? How becoming of you. So, what badge is she on." When Silver said "she", he was referring to Lyra, seeing as how Marina was on her 6th win.

"Obviously the same one you're on if we're in this city."

Silver rolled his eyes and did a cocky little smile.

"That's cute, Crystal. You think you can beat me."

"WE think we can beat you, yes! Someone needs to wipe that grin off your face and teach you a lesson!" she gasped and smiled, moving her finger up and down in a quick motion. "And I know just the person to get the job done." She turned her attention to her cousin from across the room.

"Lyra, go get my Pidgey out of my PC box. We're gonna pay someone a visit today."

**It's funny; Elizabeth (Lady Tsuru27) had been wanting to know for the longest what Gold had whispered to Silver in the forest. Little did she know that she knew the entire time. Don't think she noticed, but she gave me the idea for Lyra && Marina becoming a rival team && going against Gold && Silver in a review she gave me a while ago. It just goes to show. Don't be afraid to share ideas with me. I just might use them :]**


	20. Going Home

"That was so uncomfortable." Lyra adjusted the cap on her head, sounding a bit snooty.

"Tell me about it. Riding on a tiny bird Pokémon with people you don't even like." Silver raised Gold off of his lap with both hands and set him down on the ground, after Pidgey landed in a field of grass.

"Well at least you guys are agreeing on something here." Marina was fed up. The entire way there, all Silver and Lyra did was argue and bicker. What a relief that they had finally stopped.

"I changed my mind. That was a pretty comfy trip." Lyra defended suddenly.

"Same here. It wasn't all that bad."

"But you guys are still agreeing with each other!" the bubble gum Marina was blowing expanded out of her mouth, then abruptly popped, as she found herself face to face with their long-time friend, Yellow.

They had flown back to Kanto.

"Yellow!" Marina gave him a hug. Yellow hugged back.

"Actually, it's Ashley now." He laughed nervously.

"Oh, right! Forgot. The kids here are mostly going by their first names now, huh?"

"Yeah. Hey, Heart. It's nice to see you again."

"Yeah, well for me, it's not so nice." He looked Yellow up and down. "You look the same."

Yellow reminded everyone in Kanto of Red, because of their similarities. He had a Pikachu on his shoulder, black hair, and wore the same clothes Red did. But they had different facial features, so of course you could tell them apart, with Red looking more in his early twenties, and Yellow looking more like 10 or 11.

"And who are all these people?" Yellow demanded, making sudden eye contact with Gold and Lyra.

"Oh Yellow, don't be so blunt. This is Lyra, my cousin. And this is Gold, Silver's boyfriend."

"Ah.. I didn't realize you had a cousin. And I didn't know Heart got a new boyfriend."

"Hey!" Silver jumped in. "What do you mean 'new' boyfriend? Am I not allowed to move on after Blue?"

Yellow glanced up to observe the clouds in the sky. "You know, whenever you yell, Heart, these big dark clouds start to roll in. Have you ever noticed that, Crystal?"

"Uh-huh," giggled Marina. "It happens everyday."

Silver looked up to see for himself. He couldn't really tell if they were joking or being legit.

"Anyway, Gold and Lyra both live in the region next to ours, so. I don't think you would have ever heard of them."

"I see. So, Heart. Why is it not so nice for you to be here? Kanto's amazing. You should come and visit more often."

Silver grumbled something unintelligible under his breath. Marina gripped his shoulders from behind, standing next to him.

"He's here to visit someone." She smiled real big. Payback, perhaps..?

"Who?"

"One of Oak's grandsons."

"Which one."

"The better looking twin." Some tiny giggles escaped from Marina.

"Who, Blue?"

Silver groaned. "They look exactly the same!"

Marina nodded. "Besides, if we were here to see Blue, he wouldn't have come."

"True."

"Hey well if you want, and if you're not too busy or anything, want to hang out a bit? Catch up on old times?" Marina offered. Yellow accepted.

"Cool. Let me just drop these guys off first. Meet me outside in like five, 'kay?" Marina waved as the rest of them set off for the Oak household.

* * *

"Crystal!"

"Daisy!"

More hugs.

"What are you doing here- Oh my. Is that Silver Heart standing in my doorway? Come here, you!"

Daisy, a short bubbly blonde with a flower in her hair and the biggest baby blues you've ever seen, came rushing up to hug Silver. Silver almost hugged her back, forgetting how much Daisy was such a joy to be around. She let go, and beamed.

The 25- year old was such a homebody, still in her apron and slippers. Cookies could be smelled baking in the oven, and the book that she was reading was turned over to hold her place on the dining room table.

"So, who are you here to see? Cause I _know_ that for sure it couldn't be me. I don't get out of the house much." She tucked her long curls behind her ear.

"Is your brother around anywhere?"

"Which one?" she laughed. "Green's in his room, and Blue's in his room as well. Go on up if you'd like. But knock first. Do you guys want anything to drink?"

"No, thanks. I'm going to go chill with Yellow right now, actually."

"Oh? So soon? Stay a while, Crystal!" whined Daisy.

"Here. Why don't you talk to Lyra and Gold? They're great company. Meanwhile, I've gotta run. I'll be back in a bit."

"Will you sleep over, Crystal? I don't get a lot of company."

Marina shook her head. "We've got a journey to finish."

"Right," Daisy nodded, pretending to understand, still disappointed. "Well, if you need anything, _anything_ at all, you know where to find me."

"Got it."

After Marina had left, the room felt a little awkward, but Daisy failed to notice.

"So? Who wants cookies?"

**After writing this, it feels like I didn't explain things properly enough, and going back and revising everything is such a pain. So here are a couple of things:**

**Daisy is based off of the little girl in Pokémon Red/Blue. You 1st meet her when you walk into Blue's (your rival's) house, and she'll be sitting at a table looking at a map, deciding to give it to you for your adventure. Not to be confused with one of Misty's sisters, or myself, for that matter. (Daisy is my nickname, but I'm not half as pretty as how I wrote the Daisy in this story Dx)**

**Green is technically the same person as Blue, but just like the game Green is technically the same thing as the game Blue, I consider them to be two separate games. That's why I made them twins here. More of that will be explained later.**

**Yellow, is obviously from the game Yellow Version, but the trainer in the game is based off of Ash from the anime, so I named him Ashley. (I know she's blond in the manga, but this fic is set in game verse, so.)**


	21. Colorful Conversations

"Yellow!" Marina yelled as she crept up behind him. Yellow jumped back, startled.

"Ah! Oh, hey, Crystal. Please don't scare me like that. Pikachu was about to shock me, you know?"

"Yeah. Sorry about that. It's just.. it's been so long since we've talked!"

Yellow nodded. "Um, so how's your journey been going?"

"Great! You already know I've conquered this region; now I'm currently in the next one. You should go to Johto! It is so much bigger!"

"Bigger, huh? Well, I'm a small region person myself, but I'm glad you got the opportunity to travel. You're one of the best trainers I know. Everyone in this town is so proud of everything you've accomplished."

"Yeah, I don't like to brag, but uh.." she quickly fished in her bag for a while and thrust her badge case in his face. "14 badges under my belt. But I'm gonna win the rest with Lyra." She put the case away, and smiled, her long eyelashes fluttering every time she blinked.

Yellow looked skeptical. "Do you _really _need her help to win?"

"Eh?" she waved her hand up and down as if to say 'oh please.' "Of course not! I'm helping HER!"

"That's nice of you. But what happens when she steals your thunder?"

"What thunder? I'm not Raikou, here! Lyra's my cousin. She's always wanted to travel, just like me, but she never wanted to do it alone. That's where I come in. All she needed was a jumpstart."

"Hmm. But do you think you were really the right person to do that?"

* * *

"Let's see. Here we are." Daisy called in a sing-songy voice as she set the tray of cookies and glasses of milk on the table. She took her oven mitts off and stood back to admire he work.

"Okay!" she clapped her hands once. "Dig in!"

"Thanks!" Lyra took one, making lots of 'Mmm!' sounds while chewing. "You know, I like to bake cookies too!"

"Oh? Are they any good?"

"I'd say so! But the only people who really eat them are my family and stuff. Gold likes them, right, Gold?"

Gold nodded.

"But aren't you going to take one? They're chocolate chip! My secret recipe." Daisy leaned in toward Lyra and whispered not so quietly, "The secret is chocolate chips!"

Lyra gave her a thumbs up.

"I don't have much of an appetite today." Gold regarded her last question.

"Aww!" Daisy pouted. "Well. They're here if you change your mind. By the way.. are you two a couple?"

Lyra did a spit take with the milk she was drinking.

"No." answered Gold flatly.

"I _wish_! I'm in L-O-V-E **love **with him! But he's already taken by Silver. So I'm lucky just to be friends with him.." Lyra smiled sadly and looked at Gold. Gold took a sip of Lyra's milk.

"Oh! Where'd he go, anyway?" she looked around and then remembered. "Oh yeah, he went upstairs." She shrugged and went to go wash some dishes.

"Say, Daisy." Lyra watched as she squeezed some dish soap out from a bottle, dribbling onto a sponge she was holding in her other hand.

"Hm?"

"Do you like Pokémon?"

"Well of course I do! I used to have my very own Eevee when I was about y'all's age, but then he ran away. I'm so jealous of you guys now. You know, I've always wanted to be good at Pokémon and travel and stuff.."

"So why don't you just be a trainer?"

"To be honest, when I lost Eevee, that's when I lost all hope of becoming one. My spirit was crushed. Besides, my brothers have been taking care of the whole "Pokémon" thing for a while now, and they're better at it than I am. You know what they say: be good, or be good at it. So I'm being good. Instead, I just stay in the house. I belong in the kitchen, not the battlefield." She smiled weakly, but Lyra could see the hurt in her eyes.

"Where's your bathroom?" Gold spoke up, ruining a kind of tender moment with his outburst.

"Oh. I'm sorry. It's upstairs to the right," Daisy pointed her pink nail polished finger in that general direction, with foamy soap all over her hands.

"Thanks." He rose from his chair and dashed up the stairs, opening the first door that he saw, painted bright blue.

"Ah!" Gold took a step back. "I'm so sorry! I thought that this was the bathroom."

He found himself face to face with a tall male, stripping himself of his shirt. He quickly put it back on when he saw Gold.

"No, that's alright, man. Don't even worry about it." He got up from the bed he was sitting on, rubbing his head. "I haven't seen you before. Are you one of Daisy's friends? About time she made some."

"No no, I'm uh.. Gold. I'm here with Marina and Lyra and Silver, but Daisy's really nice, so-"

"Wait." The man frowned. "Did you just say Silver?"

"Yeah.. Who might you be?"

"I'm Blue."

"Are you really.." Gold didn't know what to think or how to feel. He wanted to run and hide. _This _was Blue? The infamous heartbreaker?

"Yeah. Hi." Blue smiled. "So.. you know Heart? Does he still talk about me ever? Not- not that I would care, or anything.. uh.. come in!" he smiled again, as Gold hesitantly followed.

"Blue.." Gold slowed.

"Yeah? What's up, buddy?"

"Um. I'm kind of.. dating.. him.."

"Kind of? Huh. And how's that going for you? I remember that little blond spitfire used to be so feisty with me."

"Um.. Silver's.. got red hair now.."

Blue frowned. "He does? Since when? Why'd he go and do that?"

Gold couldn't believe it. "You mean you didn't know? It's been that way for at least three years!"

Blue shook his head, trying to remember. He never did.

"Blue? Since you're here, I've been thinking about something for a while, and it's kind of been eating at me."

"Go ahead. I'm all ears."

"Well.. Do you think it's impossible to become true friends with a rival?"

"True friends.. or boyfriends? Like Heart?"

"Yeah.. or just in general, like Marina and Lyra. They're teaming up against Silver and me. And everyone's always saying how rivals can never be friends. So is it true? Do you always end up thinking about what you can do that the other can't, and vice versa? I mean.. feeling superior.. or inferior gets in the way, and then you both end up feeling awkward, right?"

"Hmm.." Blue scratched his head, making his orange hair a bit unruly. "You sure are deep, huh? How old are you, anyway?"

"16."

"Oh. You're a bit.. small.. no offense."

Gold shrugged. "It can't be helped."

"Well, to answer you're question, I really don't know. If both are ambitious, then you can't really avoid that."

"So you do think it's impossible." Gold hung his head. Just the thing he wanted to hear. He was asking for it, though.

"Yeah, but.. There's a sense of trust that can develop between rivals. You're a living example of that. Just look at you and Heart."

"Yeah but lately, it hasn't been going so well.."

* * *

Silver stood before a door covered in bright green paint, banging his fist against it. Green's door was the only one he ever knocked on.

"Dozō!"

Silver came in, and found Green lying on his bed watching his favorite cartoon. He waved and motioned for him to lay on the bed with him. Silver did just that, making sure to take his shoes off first.

"Watashi wa anata o nogashita."

"I missed you too. A lot, actually."

Silver was one of the few people who understood Green's language. Three years ago, after he found out that Blue had a twin, he decided to make conversation with him. The problem was, he couldn't figure out what he was saying. Over time, Silver eventually learned Green's language, and vice versa, but they both can't speak each other's languages. They're only able to comprehend it. (Green and Blue got separated at birth when their parents split up; Blue stayed in Kanto while Green moved to Isshu, a far away region that speaks differently than others.)

Silver rolled over on his back, and Green sat himself up with his elbow, still laying down.

"So.. I'm in Johto now.. just in case you were wondering.."

"Watashi wa Jouto ni itta koto ga nai."

"I know you've never been, but it's amazing, I promise. Crystal's there too, and her cousin, Lyra. I can't stand her, though."

"Anata wa kanojo o nani ga kirai nan desu ka?" Green's eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

"Are you kidding me? I have _everything _against her! It's so hard to hate her though, because she's related to Crystal and she's Gold's best friend."

"Dare desu ka?"

"Oh, he's my boyfriend." Silver made both his hands go into the shape of a heart.

"Ima made shiranakatta." Green smiled, happy for him.

"Hmm.. well.. I'm here because of him, really. But I'm not enjoying myself."

"Koko e kuru no wa anata ga kimeta koto desu."

"Actually, no. Crystal doesn't think I treat Gold well enough. She barely sees what we do alone, though, so how would she know? She thinks she knows everything. She thought that this would be good for me, but I didn't even want to come here."

Green nodded and went back to watching TV. Silver broke the silence.

"I think.. I still may be in love with Blue.."

Green couldn't have turned around faster. "Sore wa tashika desu ka?"

"Yeah. I've been having these dreams about him, lately. It was right after I saved these Slowpoke in Azalea Town.. It was all a blur after that, and I don't even remember going to bed. It was as if right afterwards, he came up to me and started asking me all these questions, and it was so realistic, and-"

"Motto hayaku itte kurereba yokatta no ni. Nani mo kawaranai. Burū wa Reddo mada, watashi no mikata to shitte."

"Yeah I _know_ Blue's still with Red. I'm not looking to be with him, but.. how can I properly be with Gold if I love Blue?"

"Anata ga suru koto wa dekimasen."

Silver frowned.

"Shigeru Green Oak and Gary Blue Oak, get down here NOW!" Daisy yelled at the very top of her lungs, sounding more like a shriek instead, with her girlish voice being so high pitched.

"In a minute sis!" Blue called from his room. Hearing Blue's voice made Silver's heart skip a beat.

"Watashi wa soko ni sukoshi shitara ikimasu!" Green called out the same thing Blue did, as he jumped off the bed. "Sore ga kaeru kikkate to natta."

Silver nodded as they both walked down the stairs together. Blue jogged down as well, with Gold right on his tail, coming down after he did.

They were all face-to-face with each other now, and the mood couldn't have been any tenser if it tried.

* * *

**Green Translations:**

_**Dozo- **_**Come in!**

_**Watashi wa anata o nogashita- **_**I missed you!**

_**Watashi wa Jouto ni itta koto ga nai- **_**I've never been to Johto.**

_**Anata wa kanojo o nani ga kirai nan desu ka-**_** What do you have against her?**

_**Dare desu ka- **_**Who is that?**

_**Ima made shiranakatta-**_** I didn't know that before!**

_**Koko e kuru no wa anata ga kimeta koto desu- **_**It was your decision to come here.**

_**Sore wa tashika desu ka- **_**Are you definite about that?**

_**Motto hayaku itte kurereba yokatta no ni- **_**You should have told me before!**

_**Nani mo kawaranai- **_**It doesn't change anything or make any difference.**

_**Burū wa Reddo mada- **_**Blue's with Red.**

_**Watashi no mikata to shitte- **_**As far as I'm concerned.**

_**Anata ga suru koto wa dekimasen- **_**You can't.**

_**Watashi wa soko ni sukoshi shitara ikimasu- **_**I'll be there in a bit!**

_**Sore ga kaeru kikkate to natta**__**- **_**That's my cue to leave.**


	22. Out Of The Blue

"Um.." Gold looked up at Blue and Green. "There are two of you?"

"Twins," Blue grinned and put his arm around his brother. "But I'm the better looking twin."

Green rolled his eyes. They had each other's exact facial features. Everyone knew that.

"Hey! I didn't call you two down to chit-chat!" Daisy marched right up to the twins, pointing a finger in their faces. "Listen up, and listen good! Starting today, I'm going to become a Pokémon trainer!" she turned to Blue, talking to him specifically this time. "And when I win the first seven badges, I'm coming after you for the eighth! Hmph!" She turned away, and even with their incredible height difference, her long locks still hit him in the face, leaving some strands stuck in his mouth. Blue made a spitting sound, trying to get it out.

"How old are you?"

"Older than you, Gary."

"Then act like it."

"How dare you!"

Blue shrugged. "I call it like I see it."

"Ochitsuite! Yamenasai!" Green warned.

"Whatever. Where'd you get this trainer nonsense from anyway?"

"Lyra, my new friend."

Blue looked down at Gold. "Isn't she that girl that you said you were with?"

"Yeah. My best friend."

"Cool," smiled Blue. "Glad she could help my sis out, even if she _is_ a pain." He stuck his tongue out at Daisy, and she stuck hers out right back.

Silver's eyes moved back and forth between Blue and Gold anxiously. When had they had the chance to talk? Blue looked at Silver for a moment, and then glanced away quickly when they made eye contact.

"Hello, Heart." Blue studied the floor.

"Blue," Silver acknowledged him back.

"Come with me for a minute?" he walked to go open the front door. Everyone watched as Silver obeyed without hesitation.

They went out to the front yard, Blue sitting down with his legs spread out. Silver didn't sit, not bothering to. Blue looked up at him, squinting a bit from the sun in his eyes. "You know, you've gotten a lot taller from what I remember.."

"Oh please don't say that," stressed Silver, rubbing his forehead with the side of his arm.

"Why not? It's true!"

"Because I knew that you'd say that. I've heard you say that so many times.."

"Huh?"

"In some.. of the dreams that I've had.."

"Uh.. you still dream about me? Wow, okay." Blue fiddled with the necklace he was wearing. "Listen, Silver, I really think that- hey! Why are you going and making that face!"

Silver's eyes were looking up as he was biting his lip, most likely holding back tears, his expression pained. "Last time you said that.. the last time you used my real name.. you.."

Almost instantly, sobs broke loose. And he hated it. But if the only person who'd ever see him this vulnerable was Blue, then he was glad that is was Blue. Just this once, he would let someone see him break.

"Come here," Blue extended his arms out to Silver, and Silver sat in his lap. Silver thought it was a rather odd feeling, though, being cradled by someone so much shorter than him.

Blue sighed, stroking Silver's vibrant red hair as he weeped into his shoulder. "Let's be honest: I ruined your life. I was a stupid 18 year old, not really looking for a serious relationship. I'm 21 now, and I've done a lot of growing up since then. I failed to notice the real you, not seeing how incredible you were. And now-" he cupped Silver's face into his hands "-you've gone and dyed your hair and pierced your face all up. This isn't you. Gold told me you did this to get my attention. Well, three years later, you've got it."

Blue kissed Silver, very passionately, and it was as if Silver had gotten transported back in time. Blue finally payed attention. But it was just too little too late.

"Okay, get off me now; you're heavy." Blue smiled as Silver rose from his lap. "I liked kissing you so much better without those metal things in your lip though, to be honest.."

Silver nodded, slumping.

"But Gold sure does like it. He told me it was different at first, but he's gotten used to it. So glad you found someone like him, Heart. He's such a good kid. We went on and on for minutes just talking about you. He reminds me a lot of you, when we were dating. But instead of being the little kid and having me be the adult and take care of you, you have to be the adult this time, and take care of him. It's give and take."

"He doesn't want to do it with me."

"Oh.. so that's why.. Ohh.. Now everything he told me makes sense.."

"What? What'd he tell you?"

"Nothing, never mind. Listen. Gold's not gonna always want to do the same things you do. You're just gonna have to hold out a while until he does. Even _I _knew not to do those things with you. Because I wasn't with you to do those things. That was, however, why I was with Red." Blue smiled to himself. Silver shook his head.

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

"That's okay. I'm used to it with Gold mentioning Lyra every five seconds."

"Yeah. She's in love with him."

Silver nodded. Then did a double take. "What?"

Blue giggled. "You get mad so easily. Chill out for a second, Heart. Turn your phone off. Take a coffee break, or something. You still do drink coffee, right?"

Silver nodded; surprised that he even remembered something as little as that.

Blue rubbed Silver's head, and Silver's face went flustered. He missed the sound of Blue's voice. Silky, yet strong when it needed to be. Like in a gym battle.

"Gary.."

"What? Oh great, now you're using _my_ first name!"

"I still love you.." Silver looked down, not wanting to see his face. Which was a good thing, because Blue did not look happy.

"Fall out of love, then."

"How do I do that?"

"When you fall in love with Gold."

Silver thought about this. _Did_ he love Gold? He felt a strong emotion, that's for certain. But not strong enough to be love.

"I'm guessing this is growing up."

"Hey." Blue punched him lightly in the shoulder. "When it happens, it'll be beautiful. Trust me."

"How is it? Being in love with Red?"

"Eh, we fight a lot, and he always wins. But the best part of fighting is making up. A league champion and a gym leader," he shrugged. "What're you gonna do. We butt heads often, but it can't be helped. Besides. He's the only person who's really understood me."

Silver nodded.

"Hey Silver?"

Silver shuddered. Whenever he said his real name, it just sent chills up his spine.

"Y-yes..?  
Blue gave him a hug. "Please always keep me as your favorite color.

"Hmm. I don't know. I think I'm starting to like the color gold more.."

* * *

"You're leaving? Please don't go!" Daisy begged, as they were all out in the driveway. Marina's Pidgey was flapping its wings, preparing for a takeoff.

"We have to, sorry. We promise to visit again!" Lyra waved.

"Make sure that you do. It was nice meeting you, Gold, and especially you, Lyra. I'm gonna go on that journey first thing tomorrow morning."

"Ganbatte.." Green said to himself, sarcastically.

"Shut up, Shigeru." Daisy rolled her eyes.

Marina elbowed Silver in the ribs. "So did you have a good talk with Blue?"

"Yeah, but.. how did you know that I even talked to him..?"

Marina looked away, smiling.

"You knew the whole time that I would end up talking to Blue, huh?"

Marina never looked at him, still smiling.

"You're something." He gave her a quick hug from behind.

_Now I'm done with my coffee break, I'll turn on my phone now that I've grown..up.._

**Green Translations:**

_**Yamenasai**_**- Cut that out**

_**Ochitsuite**_**- Cool it!**

_**Ganbatte**_**- Good luck with that.**


	23. A Whole Other Side Of You

Silver pulled his damp wet hair out of his face and applied a thin layer of eyeliner on his eyes, after he had taken a shower. He then took his flat iron and straightened out all the wavy parts. He dropped it once, bent down to grab it, and on his way up, hit his head on the countertop.

"You okay in there, Silver?" Gold had called out in their temporary bedroom in the Pokémon Center in Goldenrod City, while Silver was getting ready in the bathroom.

"Yeah. I just dropped something.." Silver took a look at himself in the mirror, and examined his hair, his blond roots showing the new hair that was growing out of the top of his head. "Remind me to buy some hair dye, Gold."

"What for?"

"For _me_, stupid!"

"Aww! You don't have to be so mean to me!"

"I'm trying not to, I really am." Silver said more to himself, in a volume too low for Gold to hear. He picked up his lip rings on the table and slowly poked them in his face. After that, he grabbed his contacts and put those in as well. Then took everything off.

"Gold, c'mere for a second." Silver could hear him climb off of the bed and open the door to the bathroom.

When he finally came in, no one said anything.

"Silver.."

"Yes..?" Silver got a little nervous.

"You look dead."

Silver reacted quickly and threw a bar of soap at his head on impulse. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ow! Silverrr!" Gold rubbed the spot where the soap had hit him. It took him a minute to answer. "I just meant that you don't look alive. You look tired or something.. um.." he worded his reply carefully, not wanting to make his boyfriend any angrier.

"I'm not wearing any of my piercings. Or my eyeliner. Or.. my contacts.."

"Oh!" Gold pounded his hand into his fist. "That makes sense! Because whenever Lyra forgot to put on her makeup, she would always look like a zombie." Gold's hand flew to his mouth. Silver scanned the bathroom and all it's contents, trying to find the next thing to throw at Gold. He finally settled on a hairbrush.

"Ow! Silverrr!" Gold rubbed his head again. "I meant, um, that you should go natural more often. Sorry for offending you." He forced a smile. Silver looked to the side.

"It's not that. I didn't throw the hairbrush because of that. I threw it because you mentioned _her_."

"Well, I mean, I can't _not_ mention her."

Silver sat in the ground. "Do you love her?"

"What?" Gold blushed. "Um-no!"

"Do you love _me_?"

"Um.. I.." Gold blushed twice as hard, turning his back to him, embarrassed.

"Come here, cutie," Silver grabbed his waist with both hands and pulled him down on his lap. "It's okay. Someone told me that falling in love is beautiful. But we can't force it out of each other. When it happens, it happens. Okay?"

"Okay.." Gold slid his fingers in between Silver's much bigger hands. Gold's were smaller than his, yet they fit perfectly. Like they were meant to be there.

"Alright, get up." Silver pulled his hands away and gently pushed Gold off, cutting a tender moment short. Gold merely crawled back to him, on his knees, and gave him a hug. The thing is, he wouldn't let go. Grabbing his glasses and putting them on, Silver lifted Gold up in his arms. He then stood up, walking to the kitchen. He set Gold down on the counter, with them now being at perfect eye level. They just stared at each other for the longest. Gold could hear Silver's breathing getting heavier and heavier as each moment passed.

"I'm sorry, Gold.."

"Why..?"

"For what I'm about to do to you. I don't want to freak you out or anything, but-" Silver's mind went completely blank as he made out with Gold violently. Any warning that he was about to give- gone. All of his better judgment- thrown out of the window. It felt like he was attacking him rather than being sweet and romantic. In the back of his head, he knew Gold had to be treated gently, like a delicate little flower. But at this very moment, "delicate" and "gentle" were not in his vocabulary, being anything but careful.

Slowly but surely, he started to regain focus and stopped, realizing what he was doing. For Silver, Gold's expression was hard to read.

"I can't believe I just did that.. I did it again.." he put his face into his hands. "You probably think I'm some kind of terrible monster or something.."

Gold tugged on the end of his shirt. Silver moved one of his fingers away from the other, seeing through the opening his hand had made.

"It's okay.."

Silver stood all the way up, removing his glasses from his face. "No, Gold, it's not! Don't you see? I'm hurting you! I'm trying to hold back, but it's not working! I've got absolutely no self-control whatsoever! And you say it's _okay_? Who are you trying to kid: yourself, or me?"

"I know you mean well. That's good enough for me."

"Yeah, well, meaning well and doing well are two separate things, in case you haven't noticed."

"Well, I need you, so please don't be upset."

Silver put his glasses back on. "What do you.. mean by that..?"

"I need you, like, as in, um.." Gold shut his eyes, thinking about it. Then he opened them. "I mean like, I can't live my life without you. I need you, so that I can function properly. Even now, it's hurting me that I'm not holding you or touching you in some way, and I- Oh. Thanks." Gold smiled as Silver held his arm out for Gold to grab on to.

"Stop babbling.. I mean.. I'm always going to be here. Unless you decided to leave again.."

"Please don't bring that up. I was stupid. I wasn't thinking straight when that happened. I didn't mean it."

"But you were right." Silver brushed his own bangs out of his face, leaving his forehead exposed. "I am pretty ruthless. Sometimes I wish I could just chill out. But. Easier said than done. Sorry for hitting you.."

"Sorry for saying you looked dead."

"Don't you think I would have looked more 'dead' _with_ the eyeliner?"

"Well, I see you with that on everyday. You without your piercings and contacts I never get to see. I sort of blurted that out without thinking. What I really wanted to say was, that I'm happy I get to see this whole other side of you."

"Hmm.." Silver blushed and turned to look out in the living room, as he noticed Totodile and Cyndaquil sleeping next to each other, with Cyndaquil resting its head on Totodile's stomach. They were really all becoming more and more like a family.. more or less. Sure, they had their fair share of problems in between, but who didn't. Still, he wished he could do more for Gold.

And then he remembered something.


	24. Constant Complaints

**I'm becoming predictable. .**

"Gold, get dressed."

"Huh?" Gold did a tiny shake of his head. "What for?"

"We're going on our date. Today. You and Me."

Gold lit up more than a Chinchou's antennae. He jumped off the counter, hugged Silver once, and then ran in the other room to go put some clothes on.

"What's he so excited for.." Silver poured himself a cup of coffee, not bothering to add any sugar or milk. "I'm not exactly a joy to be around.."

"Got that right."

Silver recoiled, dropping his scorching hot coffee as it splattered to the floor, splashing his feet.

"Ow! What the-? _Lyra_? I didn't even hear the door open! Since when are you letting yourself in?"

Lyra stepped out of the shadows and over the puddle of the spilled brown liquid, clutching her Marill to her chest. "Pardon the intrusion," she said sarcastically, setting Marill down to put a hand on her hip. "What does he see in you..?"

"He needs me," Silver quoted Gold's exact words, picking up the cup of coffee.

"Uh-huh. He'd say anything to make you feel better, right? Listen, you look so disgusting next to him. A 16-year-old innocent has no business being with a 19-year-old pierced up weirdo. You and your red hair and all your dark clothes. Plus, you're taller than a Giraffarig. So then there's that." Lyra bit her nails, chipping them in the process.

Silver was so angry. Why was she coming in here out of nowhere and saying mean things to him? It didn't seem like she'd do that. It didn't seem realistic.

Then it dawned on him.

"Okay," he smiled, very pretend, very teasingly. "Do you want to know what _Gold_ thinks of you? Do you want to know what _Crystal_ thinks about you-" he threw his hands in the air, unable to fake it any longer. "Do you want to know what everyone thinks about you? They think you're annoying, selfish, bratty, whiny, oh and let's not forget completely stupid!" he was counting the list on his fingers. "You never know when to shut up! You're always thinking you know everything; let's be honest, you don't know anything. Nobody likes you, and the people who say they _do_ like you, are lying to you. You have no friends, and I bet your own family can't even stand you. I feel sorry for them, having to put up with your constant complaints. And on top of that, you're deluding yourself. You'll never beat this town's gym leader, or the next one for that matter. You'll never get into the Pokémon League and you'll never become a Pokémon master. But most importantly, you'll never beat **me**." Silver yawned, then frowned.

Uh- oh.

If he yawned, then that meant he must be awake, and that this was definitely _not_ a dream. But this whole time, he truly believed that it was.

He had to think fast.

"Lyra.." Silver slowed. "I didn't.. I mean, I wasn't-"

An enormously loud ear splitting scream came from the lip-glossed mouth of the 15 year old trainer, as she threw a box of cereal at him, the tiny bits scattering everywhere. Frantically, she threw pots, pans, the coffee maker, the toaster; anything she could find. Silver dodged them all effortlessly as they crashed into the wall, but even with out him getting injured by these projectiles, the message was clear: she _hated_ him.

"Lyra, you have got to calm down. You don't understand; I thought it was a dream. Just now.." Silver sighed.

_Great, it sounds like I'm making the whole thing up.._

"Wait, wait. A _dream_? So you said all that stuff because you thought you were dreaming?" she cried, her expression extremely pained. "That just means you think all that stuff about me NOW!"

"Believe me, I was lying. I never meant to say any of it. You never really spoke up about how you felt about me and Gold, so I thought I _must_ have been dreaming." Silver shook his hair like a wet dog shakes its fur, cereal bits flying this way and that.

"I never said it cause I never got a chance to! You two are **ALWAYS** with each other! I was trying to be a good sport! Do you know how hard it is to be happy for the one you love, while he's out with some other guy? I _enyy_ you, Silver!" Lyra sobbed as she wiped some non-existent tears away. "It was supposed to be me, not you! Truth is, you're perfect for him, and I CAN'T! STAND IT! You've got the prettiest face I've ever seen, even without your piercings and red eyes and all that stuff!"

Silver involuntarily pulled both his hands up to his face. He forgot he wasn't wearing those things. He sat down on the ground and hung his head, while Lyra lifted herself up with both her arms on the counter. It was silent for a while, until Silver spoke up.

"No, Lyra. I'm the one who's jealous of you."

"Shut up. It's too late to make me feel better."

"No I'm being serious."

"How are you jealous of me? You're with Gold. You've won."

"Just kidding. He still talks about you. Every single day. So. I'm still losing.."

"He.. he does?"

"Yep. Why are you here, anyway?"

"Oh.. um.." Lyra stroked her hair nervously. "I came to check on the egg.

"Ah," Silver sprang to his feet, dashing to the living room and coming back with it. He tossed it to her, as she barely caught it. "Take it. It's yours, if you'll have it."

"Wait.. what? But why?"

"Don't want it? Then give it back."

"No, but I mean.." she glanced at it for a second, then looked up at Silver. "Why?"

"You were whining about how much you wanted it, and you only have a Marill, so. Now that you're on a journey too, you might as well."

"Um.." she was in awe. How could he be so nice to her..? After everything she just did? Maybe he did make all those things up, after all. Or maybe he was just pretending to be nice at the moment. She decided not to say thank you. Because that would be giving in to his act, thus letting her guard down. "I still hate you."

"I don't give a."

"Hm?" she looked around. "Why didn't you finish? No one's here to stop you."

"It just didn't feel right saying the whole thing."

"Oh."

No one said anything for a minute.

"You're stalling, aren't you?"

"Huh?"

"You're waiting for Gold, aren't you?"

"What?"

"Get out."

"Okay." Lyra jumped off the countertop, Marill waddling behind her from a distance. He saw right through her, knowing her intentions for the very start.

"Hey Lyra?"

Lyra turned around. "Yeah?"

"I still hate you." Silver grabbed a broom and started sweeping up the cereal mess.

She nodded and opened the door to leave. "I don't give a, either."

**I had a list of things I wanted to name this chapter:**

_**"I Don't Give A-"**_

"_**Believe Me, I'm Lying"**_

"_**Intentions"**_

**But I finally settled on **_**"Constant Complaints" **_**because it has absolutely nothing to do with anything.**

**(Also, why didn't anyone tell me Marill was spelled with TWO L's?)**

**Double also, "just kidding" is a way of saying something is wrong. Idk if most ppl get it, but where I live it's what everyone says. It doesn't exactly mean that Silver was "kidding" about saying how jealous he was of Lyra, he was just saying that she was incorrect about him winning. She's so stupid. I didn't know that Gold was a prize. (I'm insulting her, yet I wrote her to be this way. ^^;)**


	25. Put Some Clothes On

"Ah, okay, don't freak out. Don't get nervous. Silver's taking you out on your date today. Don't freak out.. Don't freak out," Gold said as he freaked out, pacing and jumping on his toes from time to time excitedly.

"Oh my gosh!" his hands flew to his face. "I just wasted ten minutes with this when I could have been getting dressed! He's probably thinking, 'What's taking him so long? We could have _been_ on our date already!'" Gold mimicked Silver's tone of voice as he looked through his bag of clothes and pulled on a gray pair of skinny jeans. They ripped as he tried them on.

"Oh no! I made a hole in them! What am I gonna do?"

"Why are you being so dramatic?" Marina was sitting in the window, her Pidgey flapping its wings outside.

"Ah! Marina, seriously? What are you doing here?"

"Nothing," she took a bite out of an Oran Berry.

"Hey. That's for Pokémon, not for us."

"I know. I taste test it first to make sure it's okay to eat for them. Anyway, Heart's not going to care if there's a rip in your jeans. Look at _his _jeans! There are holes in the knees in almost every pair he owns!"

"Yeah but, it works for him, not for me."

"What do you mean?"

"The chains on his pants, the studded belts, the Converse, the all black: that's _him_, and it fits him and his personality. Me, I don't wear stuff like that. A nice pair of slip ons, maybe a sweater, maybe some shorts. I'm kinda layed back I guess."

"So then just wear whatever. He likes you for you, not for your clothes."

Gold looked down at his ripped jeans and sighed. She was right.

"Besides, you've got emo hair, too, so it fits."

"Huh?"

"It's dyed black, and it swoops over one of your eyes a little bit. You know."

"My hair is naturally black."

"Really? It's so silky, though." Marina jumped from the windowsill and played with Gold's hair.

"Stop it!" Gold whined, trying to get away from her, but she kept on chasing him.

"Oy. What are you doing to my boyfriend?" Silver strolled in casually, shirtless, with his arm leaning up against the door frame. The two young trainers stopped in their tracks. As Gold observed Silver's bare chest, a little blood came running down his nose. Marina wiped it off quickly with her jacket sleeve.

"Oh my God, Heart! Put some clothes on! My jacket is white! Now look at it!" she shrugged her jacket off and went to the bathroom to go wash the stain of red off, leaving her arms exposed in her pink tank top.

"No one asked you to wipe it!"

"I wasn't just gonna let it stay there!" Marina called from the bathroom. "Why don't you have a shirt on, anyway?"

"Um, why are you in our room?"

"I asked you first!"

"I spilled my coffee on my shirt. I came in here to get a new one." He glanced at Gold, still frozen, staring at Silver. He waved at him. Gold waved back, limply.

"Okay." Marina sighed, walking back out of the bathroom, putting her hands on her hips. "What's going on. Heart, your roots are showing."

"Yeah I know. Thanks for bringing it to my attention anyway." He snatched her hat off, and her hands involuntarily went to the top of her head. "Your roots are showing, too."

"Yeah, well at least mine don't look weird! Blond roots with red hair looks silly."

"_You're _silly."

"And where are your red eyes?"

"Okay, get out. I just kicked Lyra out a little while ago, so it looks like you're next."

Gold snapped out of his trance. "What? Lyra was here?"

Silver growled. Seriously? Was that all it took? One small mention of Lyra?

"Wait, what was she doing here? And give me my hat back!"

Silver tossed it to her. "She came for the egg."

"What egg- oh! That egg." Marina watched him as he pulled out a black V-neck shirt from a drawer. Silver studied Gold's pants for a while, and then switched the V-neck for a gray hoodie.

"Why'd you change?"

Silver didn't answer her, putting his arms through the sleeves.

"Oh, I see. You wanted to match with Gold, didn't you?"

Silver continued to ignore her, squeezing his feet through his shoes and messing with his hair a bit in a mirror before he finally acknowledged her.

"Get out."

Marina didn't protest, climbing out through the window she came in, hopping on her Pidgey.

"Evolve that thing, already!" Silver called just before she left.

"You're one to talk! Just look at your Totodile!" she giggled and flew away.

"Whatever, Ready, Gold?" Silver grabbed his hand to go.

"Yeah." Gold smiled sweetly, with his eyes closed. Silver blushed. He was just too cute.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Gold finally asked after they had been walking around the entire city for what seemed like an hour.

"Curiosity finally getting to you?"

"Uh huh." Gold stopped walking and tugged on Silver's sleeve. "I wanna know!"

"Well.." Silver looked away, scratching the back of his head. "To tell you the truth, I don't know.."

Gold stopped tugging, making Silver instantly turn his head towards the smaller boy to look down at him.

"What? Why'd you stop pulling?" Silver hated to admit it, but he kind of liked it. It made him feel "needed".

"You didn't have anything planned for me? Like a secret dinner or a special walk in the park or a surprise.. something..?"

Silver shook his head.

"Anything..?"

He shook his head once more. "I'm not too good with things like that.. Sorry.. Anything you had in mind?"

"Um.." Gold placed a finger on his face and thought about it, looking around. Then he got excited and pointed to an ice cream shop. "There! I wanna go there! Please?"

"I hate ice cream."

"Eh? What kind of person doesn't like ice cream?"

"Me. I don't like sweets at all."

"But what about when you ate that candy during our last gym battle?"

"That was just to bribe you to get you to battle harder."

"Well what about that one time when we went over Lyra's house and she made those cookies! You ate like half of them!"

"That was only to irk her. Those cookies were terrible."

Gold pouted and clung to Silver as hard as he could. Silver's heart started pounding, reacting to Gold's sudden embrace.

"_Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease!_"

The red head sighed and led them inside the ice cream shop. He couldn't resist his boyfriend's pleas.

"Yay!" Gold giggled, completely happy that he gave in.

* * *

"Gold, you're making a mess." Silver watched as the younger boy sloppily ate his ice cream, vanilla dripping from his mouth.

"Hm?"

"You," he pointed to him. "There's stuff all over your face."

"Oh.. Can you get it for me?"

"Pssh." Silver leaned back in his seat and shook his head. "You don't want _me_ to get it off for you."

"Why not? Oh come on, just do it."

"Okay. Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you." Silver leaned over the table and licked every single drip of the sticky ice cream off of his face, as his tongue slowly slipped its way into Gold's mouth. After they made out for a few short seconds, Silver sat back down and smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Gold was numbed by the experience. Silver noticed, and rolled his eyes.

"What? Too much? On the bright side, I think I just might like ice cream now."


	26. As A Blond

"Okay, so, the thing is.. with Gastly, it's not exactly necessary for me to directly speak to it in battle, it's just like.. uh.." Silver scratched his head, trying to think of a better way to word his explanation. "It's like an unspoken kind of.. agreement.. I guess.. um.. Here, let me show you."

Gold and Silver (upon Gold's request) decided to go to the National Park, just to enjoy the outdoors for a little bit. But with their next gym battle coming up soon, they decided to train instead.

They both released their Pokémon out of the Pokéballs; Gold starting out with his Nidoran (he caught it in the woods) and Silver with his Gastly.

"Alright. Now watch. It's sort of like a code.. Tell Nidoran to attack."

"Go, Nidoran! Use Cut!" Gold commanded, waiting for his Nidoran to obey. Silver turned around, his back facing everyone as Gastly dodged it. Silver spun forward again.

"You see? I tell it what to do by the little gestures that I make. Oh and by the way, you wouldn't have been able to hit it anyway. Physical contact moves don't work on ghost types.

"_Now _you tell me."

"It's common sense!"

"Whatever! Make it do something else!"

"Okay.." Silver paused, then struggled to smile a little bit, while Gastly used Lick on Nidoran.

"Oh! I get it! But what if Gastly learns a new move?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead yet. All I know is that it's such a bother shouting all the time in battles. 'Go! Do this!' or 'Now! Use your whatever attack!' Actions speak louder than words. So I don't speak."

"Won't you have to speak to Totodile?" Gold wondered.

"No. Me and him aren't exactly on speaking terms."

"Why. What'd he do? Oh, Silver, mind if we stop by the Pokémon Center? Nidoran's kind of paralyzed." He grinned awkwardly, picking up Nidoran in his arms.

"What? Yeah, okay." They started walking. "Well, he won't listen to me, for one."

"But shouldn't he be able to by now? We got the badge from Bugsy."

"I'm not talking about in battle; I'm talking about in real life. Every time I try to give him a bath or feed him, he just messes around with your Cyndaquil. I can't pull Totodile away from him for like a minute. They're like, inseparable."

"Hmm. Kind of like us?"

"What? Y-yeah.." Silver blushed.

"Here," Gold handed Nidoran over to Silver.

"Wait, why are you giving her to me?"

"Because you can carry him with one arm, and I'm not able to. I'm not that strong. And so that I can have my hand free to hold yours," he grabbed Silver's hand suddenly.

"Stupid. Your Nidoran is a girl."

"Noo.. it's a boy.. See? It's blue!"

"Alright, whatever. Think what you want. Just wait until it evolves."

"It's gonna evolve into a Nidoking!"

Silver stopped walking. "You know what, Gold? I'm taking you to Pokémon School."

"I've already been, _thanks_! With Lyra."

"Obviously her dumbness rubbed off on you."

"Ugh!" Gold let go of his hand. "And how would you know? Have _you_ ever been to Pokémon School?"

Silver held his breath. "_Yes_, I have. But I dropped out."

"Oh.."

"Actually.. I got kicked out.. but that's besides the point."

"You got **kicked **out? What did you do?"

"My hair color was against the dress code."

"Why didn't you just dye it back to.. um.. what did Marina say it was again?" Gold stood on his tippy toes to have a look see at the roots on the top of his head. Silver bent down lower.

"Blond. I was a blond."

"Hmm.."

"Hmm?" he stood up all the way. "Hmm what?"

"Nothing.." Gold started to walk away

"No, tell me!" Silver grabbed his hand, jerking Gold back.

"Oh! Take it easy!"

"Sorry, I just.. I'm kind of.. paranoid.. I um.. I.."

"Silver. Calm down." Gold smiled. "I was just thinking of how you'd look as a blond. Just imagining it, that's all. Don't get so worked up. Please."

"Oh.." Silver felt silly now. "Would you like me better if I was a blond..?"

"What?"

"I mean.. would you want me to bleach my hair back..?" Silver drew circles nervously with his finger on the Nidoran he was holding, waiting for Gold to answer.

"Um.. you don't have to do that. I mean you're fine just the way you are. I don't really mind it."

Silver nodded decidedly. "I got you. I'll bleach my hair."

"Eh? How'd you get _that_ from what I just said? I didn't say 'Please dye your hair back', I said I don't really mind it! Silverrr! Don't walk away!"

But it was too late. Silver, forgetting all about Nidoran's health issues, went into the Goldenrod City Pokémart, one of the biggest buildings they've seen so far in the region. By the time Gold had went in and found him, Silver came out with a grocery bag.

"Silver! Wait-" Gold grabbed his hand, but instead of stopping him, he got lurched forward; being dragged basically. Then they went into the Pokémon Center to heal Nidoran.

"Nidoran, return." Gold held his Pokéball out, watching his Pokémon disappear before him. Once he was finished, Silver-still holding Gold's hand- ran up the stairs. Gold tripped over a couple of them, but continued to move forward.

"Wait, what did you buy though?" Gold shut the door after him and sat on the floor. Silver turned around.

"A bleaching kit. I told you: I'm dying my hair back to it's natural color."

"You were serious?"

"Yes, because _you_ were serious."

"What? Silver, would you listen to me for a second?"

"No." he walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

* * *

"Hey-whoa.. Gold, who's your friend, here?" Lyra asked, as she walked down to the main section of the Pokémon Center, with Marina not too far behind.

"It's Silver.." Gold frowned.

"Ah! What? _Heart?_" Marina ran straight toward Silver, reaching up to touch his now platinum bleach blond hair. "You look like another version of yourself three years ago!"

No one said anything.

"Crystal, that doesn't even make any sense!"

"Oh, you know what I mean! Before you got your piercings and stuff!"

Marina was right. Silver had none of his piercings in (even his newest ones he got recently were missing), no eyeliner, no red eyes. Everything was absent. He looked pure; more refreshing.

"You look like a male model." Lyra jumped in. Silver snatched the Pokégear off her wrist childishly and it dropped to the floor, making a _clink!_ sound.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh. You're a pretty boy. Just face it, accept it, and move on- Hey!" Lyra watched in horror as Silver's gray Converse stepped all over Lyra's pink trainer device, not even giving her a chance to finish.

"Cut it out, Heart. She _means_ that you look like all those guys in the magazine ads, not like walking down the runway. I swear you get so defensive. Just take the compliment!" Marina put her hands on her hips. "There's nothing wrong with being attractive."

Silver sighed. "It used to be that people just saw my face, not my personality, and then they'd just take advantage of me. You know as well as I do that in Kanto everyone takes appearances very seriously. I hated it. That's why I'm getting so worked up. I don't want to be that person anymore."

**I think Silver got so mad earlier in this chapter because not only did Gold **_**not**_** know what gender his Nidoran was, he got the evolutions wrong, skipping over Nidorino && jumping straight to Nidoking. Of course, I don't see why it matters. It's never gonna evolve. **

**(They're all at a stand-still in this story, otherwise known as "baby Pokémon") Because** **when I'm playing, I always press the B Button everytime it goes "WHAT? [insert Pokémon name here] is evolving?" So it's a habit. That's why it's taking everyone's Pok****é****mon so long to evolve. I just.. I don't like evolutions..**


	27. The Way I See It

"And so that's why you built this whole barrier around yourself. Not letting anyone in it. But you have to lower your defense down sometime, especially for Gold."

"That's a work in progress. I've been trying lately, but apparently not enough."

"Was Blue one of those people that took advantage of you?"

Silver growled, counting to ten in his head to calm down. "You already know the answer to that."

"Did you change your hair back to normal because of him?"

Silver's eyes lowered.

"You did.. didn't you?"

"He said he liked me better with out my piercings and stuff."

"What were his _exact_ words?"

"He told me that it 'wasn't me', and that he liked kissing me so much better with out those metal things in my lip."

"The way I see it: you're doing all these things for Blue, when you should be doing them for yourself. Or at least for Gold. Because in case you haven't noticed, he's your boyfriend. **Right now.**"

Silver's eyes flew open, and he slowly picked himself off of the ground from where he had fell asleep.

"Who was I just talking to..? Was it.. a dream?" He sure hoped so, scrambling to get to the nearest mirror.

"Hey Silver," Gold walked out of the kitchen with a cup of orange juice in his hand.

"Morning.." Silver scratched his head and watched Gold sip his drink.

"You okay?" He noticed Silver acting more distant than usual and gave him a hug, which Silver never returned.

"Yeah.. I just.. I wasn't expecting my hair to look like this.. when I woke up…"

"What do you mean? Do you not like it like that anymore? I mean, you were the one who dyed it."

"Yes, but.. I don't know. It was just.. it caught me off guard. That's all. Do.. _you_ like it, Gold? I knew you didn't want me to get it done, but I made it seem like you did just for an excuse to do it."

"Thank you for being honest, but now it's my turn. I don't really care if your hair is red, blond, purple, or orange. It doesn't matter, as long as I'm with y-" Gold suddenly got pulled closer to Silver, as Silver bent down on his knees to hug him tightly.

"Don't say that.. Please.. You're making me feel guilty.."

"Why?"

"Because.. I bleached it for all the wrong reasons.. All the piercings I took off, my contacts I threw away-"

"You threw them out?" Gold tried to take a step back, but Silver wouldn't let him, strengthening his grip. "Silver! What's gotten into you?"

"Remember that trip we took to my hometown recently.."

"Uh-huh.."

"I.. uh.." Silver let go abruptly and stood up. "Nothing. It's nothing."

"It's obviously something if you're stressing out like this!" he set his juice down and grabbed Silver's hand in both of his. "Tell me? Please?"

"You.. you won't like the answer.."

"I promise. Whatever it is, we can work it out."

Silver sighed. Might as well get it over with. Like ripping off a band-aid. "I did it because of Blue."

Gold let his hand go, and smiled faintly, holding back tears. "No, I get it. Just another way to get him back, right?" He got choked up.

"Gold, you know it's not like that."

"Call me Ethan, from now on. You don't even deserve to call me Gold anymore." He ran outside, but Silver chased after him.

"What about when you said we could work through it?"

Gold stopped running. "That's before I found out that this was about Blue. It's _always_ about Blue! I have nothing against him, but then you turn around and do something like this! Now it's really hard not to hate him!" he was whimpering helplessly, as tears started in his eyes.

"Shut up!" Silver snapped, his voice rising nearly to a shout. "Do you even know how stupid you sound right now? What about Lyra! It's ALWAYS about Lyra with you!"

"That's different!"

"How! Don't pull that crap with me!" he exploded, punching the wall. Gold recoiled, hiding his face in his hands.

"Why do you have to be so mean to me?" he cried, his voice breaking. "The difference is, I don't have feelings for Lyra. But you obviously have feelings for Blue!" Gold looked up at his boyfriend's face now. "Please don't lead me on.." some tears rolled down his cheek.

Silver's face grew tight with thought. "It's hard to forget about him, Gold! He was my first love! You have to understand. I'm trying to move on. And if that isn't good enough for you, then maybe this isn't working!"

"Moving on doesn't mean dying your hair back, Silver! It was _three_ years ago! Let it go!" Gold gasped before he covered his mouth with his hand, realizing what he just said. He expected Silver to really give it to him this time, but instead, he just stood there nonchalant and put his hands in his pockets. As if nothing really fazed him. As if nothing ever happened.

"Whatever you say.. _Ethan_.."

Gold blinked. "What? Just like that? You're not even going to put up a fight?"

Silver shrugged, his blond hair blowing a bit from the wind outside.

"Nothing? Nothing at all? You're not going to argue about Lyra or Blue or..?"

"Who's Blue?"

Gold's jaw dropped as Silver winked at him and left, going back inside their room. He couldn't believe it. Silver was acting so out of character, that he was convinced that he was a completely different person. Or at least a pretty good actor.

* * *

"You're kidding.. right?" Marina sat flabbergasted at a nice diner in Goldenrod City with Lyra, Gold, and Silver, as she sipped her apple juice from a straw. Silver had his head down on the table, sleeping.

"No, I'm not! It got me so mad, so I decided he should start calling me Ethan from now on." Gold picked at a few of the remaining scraps of food on his plate, too full to have anymore.

"He doesn't even remember who his ex-boyfriend is? What gives?" exclaimed Lyra, who was now handing her empty plate to the waiter.

"Well I don't buy it. Either he's trying to prove something, or he's messing with you."

"But Marina, I don't think that it's either of those things! I even described Blue perfectly!"

"What were your exact words?"

"Okay. I walked after him when he went back inside, and I was like 'Really? You don't know who I'm talking about? You know, Blue: kinda shorter than you, orange short spiky hair.. gym leader.. twin brother.. older sister.. three years..?' He recognized who Daisy and Green were when I described them and said 'How could I forget?' But apparently, Blue never succeeded to ring a bell."

"Something's off. Maybe some kind of psychic Pokemon wiped his memory clean of Blue!" Lyra was sure that this was the answer."

"Lyra, why would a Pokemon erase the memory he had of Blue, but leave everything else? That doesn't make much sense. The way I see it: Silver's not taking his relationship with you seriously anymore. He's playing all these games with you: dying his hair back, 'forgetting' about Blue. And you can never win because _he_ doesn't even know the rules to these little games himself! He's taking advantage of you; just like Blue took advantage of him." Marina shook her head and looked at Silver, who was pretending to be asleep the whole time and could hear every word.


	28. Lesson Learned

"Ah." Silver clicked off the TV as he saw Marina walk in wearing a white frilly goth- lolita dress with leather-studded heels, her Misdreavous floating beside her. Silver's Gastly floated up to greet Misdreavous, as they went off into the corner to play together.

"What are you all dolled up for?" he sat up more, giving her room to sit down beside him on the couch.

"Did Gold tell you I'd be over here?"

"Yeah, Ethan did. Just a second ago. But he made me leave the room, so I came in here to watch some TV. Too bad there's nothing on."

Marina played with the frills on her dress and pulled up her stockings a little more. "I'm trying out a new look. You're not the only one who's allowed to change, you know."

"Yeah, but you're a tomboy. You've always been. Lace and leather isn't exactly your.. style.." Silver leaned back and put his glasses on, really seeing Marina for the first time.

She dyed her hair back brown.

He jumped up from the couch, and she smiled at his reaction. She knew with him being so far sighted, he wouldn't be able to tell right away.

"Doesn't make any sense, does it?" Marina got up and walked circles around him. "Now why would _I_, a 17 year old girl, be wearing this right now? For fun? Maybe. To get back at someone? Sure.. To confuse people? Well.. That's just mean! But that'd be right up your alley, wouldn't it, Silver?"

Silver took his glasses off. "What are you getting at? And why are you calling me Silver all of a sudden?"

"That's your name, isn't it?" Marina gave him a wink.

"Oy, what gives? You're acting.. differently.."

Marina made an unrealistic "shock" expression. "Oh! Am I?"

Silver rolled his eyes. "Okay, Princess, I get what this is about." He made her sit on the couch.

"What is it about then?" she folded her arms across her chest, popping her gum loudly.

No one said anything for a while, as Silver blanked out for a bit.

"Silver!"

He scratched the back of his head. "No, I get it. Trust me."

"Get what?"

Silver gave her a look. "What do you think?"

Marina lit up. "So you're going to dye your hair back to red?"

"Maybe I don't get it after all.."

Marina slumped over. "But I thought you learned your lesson?"

"Oh!" Silver faked looking surprised. "Was _that_ the lesson?"

"Ugh!" grunted Marina. "You're such a.. a.."

"What? A jerk? Don't say anything I'm already aware of." He kicked the side of the couch with his bare feet. "If I'm so bad, then why do people insist on hanging around with me so much? I'm best friends with you, but not very good at it. I'm Gold's boyfriend, but I'm not very good at that, either."

"You just said 'Gold'." Silver couldn't see it, but Marina had the biggest smile on her face, as she covered her mouth with her hand. He hit her with a pillow.

"I mean Ethan."

"Hmm." She chipped at some of the red nail polish on her fingernails. "Why are you being so obedient anyway? Wait!" but before she could stop him, he already had two pillows in his hand going at her back to back. "What I meant to say was cooperative. Yeah, that's it! Better choice of words?"

"Mmm. Yeah." Silver walked around the couch to sit next to her again. "Well. I've already put my foot in my mouth several times. He knows that. The last thing I want to do is make him hate me. That's actually been the biggest fear I've had with him since the beginning."

"I thought he already hated you?"

Leaping to his feet in one hasty movement, Silver went into the kitchen to grab a left over burger from the refrigerator. Marina watched him eat it in disgust.

"Silver, you didn't even heat that up first in a microwave. Do you like your Miltank burgers cold?"

Silver swallowed.

"Miltank.. _what_.._?_"

"Hasn't anyone told you what those burgers were made out of? Jeez, if you wouldn't have gotten kicked outta Pokémon School, I swear."

"Crystal! Why didn't you tell me that _before _I already finished it off!" he said all in one breath.

"And who's fault is that? Well, it can't be helped now. But you should slow down when you eat. And when you talk.."

Silver made a face. "I think I'm going to become a vegetarian."

Marina gave him a thumbs up. He just looked at her.

"You know what I'm doing, right?"

"Of course. You're trying to distract me by changing the subject."

"You were the one who kept switching subjects."

"Yeah.." she took her heels off.

"Don't get too comfortable. You're leaving soon."

"Says who? Silver, look. You've gotta stop doing all these things for Blue. He's all the way in another region! He can't see what you look like! Gold's probably really hurt that you decided to do this for another guy, instead of him."

"Crystal, I didn't do it _for_ Blue, I did it because of him. The reason why I dyed my hair in the first place was to impress him, so he'd take me back. Now I have no reason to do that anymore, because I'm with Gold. It's pointless. So that's why I took my contacts and piercings out. I'd be stupid to continue on wearing them. A few days ago, he finally noticed me the way I wanted him to three years ago. Now that that's out of the way, I can move on. I'll never change for a guy again. Lesson learned."

Marina did a slow clap.

Silver threw a pillow at her.


	29. Silver Smiles

"Ethan.."

"Mmm.." Gold rubbed his eyes and turned the other way on the bed at the sound of his boyfriend's voice. The sun shone through the blinds of the windows, hitting him in the face. He pulled the blanket over his head to shield himself, but Silver swiftly removed the blanket and threw it on the floor. Gold sat up slowly, still half asleep. He yawned, forcing his eyes to stare at him. Silver, having very little self-control at the moment, pushed Gold back down on the bed, climbing on top of him. Gold closed his eyes again. A vain in Silver's head throbbed a bit in irritation.

"Hey! You can't fall asleep on me!" he shook Gold, his eyes opening immediately.

"Um.. um.." Gold blushed. Silver could tell that he was uncomfortable and got off, sitting beside him now. Gold sat up as well, feeling light headed.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have woke you up like that."

"No, it's okay." Gold yawned a tiny yawn and clung to Silver with both arms. "I don't mind waking up to your face. I think my day's going to be a lot better now."

"Really? So you're not mad at me?"

"Mad at you? About what?"

"You know.. About the whole.. dying my hair back.. because of him.."

"I don't know what you mean.."

Silver got up and stood on his feet. Gold was playing the same game _he_ was playing just yesterday.

"Silver? Why'd you get up so suddenly? Come back."

"No.. no.." Silver paced around the room, holding his blond hair out of his face with his hands, resting them on the top of his head.

Gold got up and folded the blanket that had been tossed carelessly on the floor just a second ago. "Is it laundry day?"

Silver let his hands fall to his sides and nodded, taking the blanket from him. "So we're never going to talk about this?" he wanted to know, walking into the laundry room. Gold followed and sat on top of the dryer, grabbing the detergent and unscrewing the cap.

"Talk about what?"

Silver said nothing and stuffed the blanket in the dryer, while Gold poured in the soap. Silver clicked some buttons and the machine started rumbling silently. He then concentrated on Gold's face, caressing his cheek with his finger.

"Silver.." Gold pulled Silver's arm close to his chest. "Blue's a wonderful person, and I understand why you loved him. But it makes me upset that you still care about him. I want you to care about me.."

"Ethan.. I do care about you. I don't mean to make you upset all the time. I have a weird way of showing my feelings and a weirder way of doing things." His voice grew deeper. "I'm just a bit.. sick. That's all." He stroked Gold's hair several times, before kissing him lightly on the lips. When he started to draw back, Gold only held onto him tighter.

"What?"

"Um.. I.. I.." he blushed.

"You.. you..? You what?"

"I'm sorry.."

Silver's face grew tight with thought. "I don't like it when you do that."

"Do what?"

"Saying sorry when you didn't do anything wrong. I'm not looking for an apology."

"Yeah but you're not the only one who makes mistakes here!"

"Yeah, maybe. But it feels like it. Sometimes I think you'd be better off without me. But I don't have the strength to leave you, nor do I want to."

Gold smiled. "Because you don't want to hurt me?"

"Well, that, and I don't want anyone else to have you. So I guess I'm selfish either way you put it." He took off his shirt and put it in the hamper beside the washing machine. Gold looked away quickly, covering his eyes with his hands.

"Hey!" Silver grabbed Gold's hands and moved them away. "What gives? Why'd you do that?"

"Because I don't want to have another nose bleed.." still looking away, Gold blushed a deep red.

Silver laughed. "How adorable. Well, you can't really help it if you think I'm hot."

"You're full of yourself.."

"Hah!" he let Gold's hands go and put his own on his hips. "Say it. Go on and say it."

"Say what?" Gold buried his face in his knees.

"Tell me I'm hot."

"What's with your cocky attitude all of a sudden?"

"I just wanna hear you say it. Go on! Admit it! Tell me I'm sexy!"

"No! That's so embarrassing!"

"Ethan.." Silver leaned in closer to Gold.

"You can't make me!"

"Wanna bet?"

"Yeah!"

Silver smirked. "Is that a challenge? I thought so. Okay, you asked for it." He lifted Gold up off of the dryer with one of his arms and set him on the couch, climbing on top of him. There, Gold had a perfect view of his boyfriend's nearly flawless body. He started breathing heavily.

"I.. I still won't say it.."

Silver frowned.

Seconds later, he was tickling Gold, as he started giggling uncontrollably. Silver had to smile. He was just too cute.

"Ready to say it?"

"Okay, fine, fine! I think you're the hottest guy in the world! Just stop tickling me now, please!"

Silver discontinued his tickling and sat up, beaming.

"Now was that so hard?"

"Silver.." Gold climbed on top of his lap, leaning his hands against the upper part of Silver's body, staring intently at his face.

"What?"

"Do that again!"

"Do what again?"

Gold poked one of Silver's cheeks. "Smile again!"

His silver eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"You were smiling just now! Smile for me, again, please?"

Silver did just the opposite, frowning. "No."

"But Silverrrr!"

"I don't care how many times you whine, sweetie. I don't smile on command, if at all."

Gold leaned his head against Silver's chest. "That's okay. I still think you're amazing."

After hearing that, the corners of Silver's mouth turned upward a little bit, as he held Gold closer.


	30. Soul Survior

**The Story So Far..**

**16-year-old Ethan Gold finds himself face to face with his rival, the red haired Silver Heart, staring into a Pokemon lab. Soon after, they find themselves going on a journey together after receiving the Pokémon Cyndaquil && Totodile. Forgetting a few things, Gold goes back to New Bark Town to say goodbye to Lyra Soul, whom Silver strongly hates. He also encounters his best friend and ex rival, Marina Crystal, a 17-year-old trainer from Kanto. Finding himself finishing a story about the past that Marina had started, Silver explains to Gold about his ex boyfriend, the Viridian City gym leader, Blue. Silver then kisses Gold, telling him he's helped him realize he needs to be a better person. But that doesn't mean he becomes one, still fighting with everyone he meets. After saving the Slowpoke from the evil Team Rocket, Silver has a bad dream about Blue, which later results in everyone taking a trip back to Kanto to visit old friends. The 19 year old then decides to remove his piercings, eyeliner, red contacts, and red flaming hair for a tamer look, bleaching his hair back to its original color. Shocking everyone at first, he admits to Gold the real reason why he did it. After arguing about it, Gold is starting to realize the thing that has been leading up to the destruction of their entire relationship, is Blue. How do you make a relationship work when your boyfriend has a nasty temper, rarely ever shows his feelings, and is still in love with his ex boyfriend? You don't. && Gold's about to find out the hard way.**

* * *

"Uh.."Lyra started nervously, awaiting her turn. "Why do I have to do this alone again?"

"Lyra, you ask that question every time you start a gym battle. And we go over it every time! I already earned this badge! That'd be against the rules if I helped you!"

"Otherwise known as cheating." Silver snickered to himself, holding Gold in his lap.

"Silver, shut up."

"Whatever, Crystal" he fed Gold some popcorn, as Gold crunched on it noisily.

They were in the Goldenrod City gym this afternoon, with Gold, Silver, and Marina sitting on the bleachers, and Lyra challenging the leader. Hoping to get her 3rd gym badge. Gold and Silver had already won theirs earlier in the morning, but now it was Lyra's turn to face off against Whitney.

She was a vision in white, with pink bubble-gum pigtails and the personality to match. She seemed quite young to be a leader, but she could definitely hold her own. Of course, she always cried when she lost. (Gold had to calm her down several times before she finally gave them their gym badges.)

Whitney was actually turned on by the idea of trainers going up against her as a team. Sadly, Marina had to sit this one out because she already had the Plainbadge.

"Are you ready?" Whitney asked, her smiley face stuck like glue, never turning upside down.

Lyra shook her head.

Whitney shrugged, still smiling, as her teeth glinted in the brightly lit area.

"Oh my. Aren't we confident, today?" Silver couldn't help but make fun of her.

"Can it, blondie!" she yelled. "I'm not in the mood!"

"When are you ever?"

"Guys, stop fighting," Gold requested, his mouth full of popcorn.

"Gold, chew your food first."

"Well at least he _chews! _Silver, you eat your food in one bite!" Marina laughed.

"Hi!" Whitney waved at the three audience members suddenly, hinting around that they should be quiet. "Can we get started here?"

"Sorry!" they all apologized in unison. She gave them all a playful nod.

"This match will be between the gym leader of Goldenrod City, Whitney, and the challenger Lyra Soul from New Bark Town. The leader is allowed two Pokémon each, while the challenger is allowed up to six. Begin!"

"Alright, Clefairy. Hope you're not tired after what Silver's Zubat did to you. Go!" Whitney gracefully threw her Pokéball in the air, revealing the pink fairy Pokémon.

"Okay! I'm gonna go with.. uh.." Lyra looked undecidedly at the two Pokéballs in her hands.

"Just pick one already! They're both just gonna suck, anyway!" Silver yelled. Marina threw a bag of popcorn at Silver, as he wasted no time reacting and pulling the bag over her head.

"I'm gonna use Togepi.." Lyra said decidedly as Togepi came out on its own. She took a step back, startled. Then she looked kindly at her new Pokémon, who was once an egg. "You knew I wanted you, didn't you? Okay! Start with your Metronome!"

"Clefairy, use it right back!"

Both Pokémon wiggled their fingers back and forth, before attacking with a random move. Togepi did an Air Slash, while Clefairy went with Metal Sound. Both trainers stood there for a minute.

"I hate this," Lyra said finally. "I have no idea what it just did."

"You hit me. That's good enough. Don't worry about what it did as long as it gets the job done. Go, Clefairy! Try your Double Slap!"

"Wait, wait! But you just went!"

"Your Pokémon's speed is also an important factor, not just how well it can attack."

"Um.. okay.. Togepi, do your.. uh.. Ultrasensory!"

Togepi didn't move.

"Whoa, I meant.. _Extra_sensory. My bad.."

Togepi endured a few slaps from Clefairy, then took it on with Extrasensory.

"Yesss.." Lyra was eager to beat her.

"Go Lyra!" Gold threw his fist in the air, cheering excitedly. Silver brought Gold's arm down and held it there, against his leg.

"Hey!"

"You're distracting her."

"Silver, you're one to talk. You've been shouting mean things at her ever since she got started. Even before that!" Marina sniffed her hair. "And I smell like butter!"

"And whose fault is that?"

"Hey look, guys, she won."

"Huh?" Silver and Marina both whipped their heads around from their arguing to find Clefairy fainted out on the battlefield.

"No way.." Silver stared in disbelief.

"Yay! Mystery Move came in handy!" she cried, happy to see her Togepi's victory come so quickly.

"It's called Metronome.. isn't it?" Gold was puzzled.

"Don't ruin it for her." Marina shook her head.

"But didn't she call it the right name before?"

"You can't expect her to know things like that off the top of her head."

"What? Like the actual names of the moves? Yeah. Cause it'd be silly for a trainer to know those types of things." Silver rolled his eyes.

"_You're_ silly." Beamed Marina.

"Okay, what just happened? What kind of attack was that? I've never seen it before!" Whitney was dumbfounded, taking her wounded Clefairy back into the red and white sphere.

Lyra shrugged. "I dunno."

"Regardless.." Whitney was getting irate. "I can still win. Alright Miltank, show 'em what you've got!"

Miltank came out in a flash.

"Ugh.." Silver almost gagged. "I had one of those for lunch a while ago.."

"Use Rollout!"

"Get out of its way!" but Lyra's warning was far too late, as Miltank curled into a ball and came at Togepi as fast as it could. She closed her eyes, waiting for it to be over, and saw Togepi, fainted on the ground.

"Return," Lyra said dejectedly, as she pointed her Pokéball at it.

Whitney smirked. "Show them everything.."

**I've always wanted to do a "Story So Far" thingy. I'm not too good at summarizations though. (Man, I can't believe it's been 30 chapters already. O.o) **

**It's also been a while since we've seen a battle in this fic. (13 chapters ago Gold && Silver had their battle with Bugsy.) I've been watching old Pokémon movies lately (specifically the Johto ones) && I forgot how excited I felt seeing a really heated battle scene. Although I can't write a good battle for s***, I try. && in the next chapter, you get to see Whitney's darker side. *says in Whitney's voice: "Show them what you've got. Show them.. _everything.._ MUAHAHAHA!"***

**SPOILER: "Playing God" (an upcoming chapter) is one of my favourite chapters I've written, && one of the most darkest. This person (I won't spoil _too_ much) really takes all this s*** from Silver, but has been around him long enough to see his side of things && still put him in his place. I freakin love it! xD**


	31. It's Time To Win

"Don't cry," Whitney smiled. "It'll be over, soon."

Without a word, Lyra threw her next Pokémon's Pokéball in midair, as a blue colored mouse burst out.

"Oh! A Marill! How cute and happy! Are you sure?"

"Hit it with a Rollout!"

"What?" Whitney backed away and looked wildly at the blur of aqua rolling straight into Miltank. It appeared as though Miltank had taken a lot of damage, as it cried out in pain.

"Cute and happy? You better think again. And we aren't even _near_ done."

"Uh-oh." Gold drowned to himself softly. "What's she got up her sleeve..?"

Marina watched the match, studying Lyra's haughty expression. "She plans to win with Rollout, and Rollout alone."

"Really? No Tackle or Defense Curl or Tail Whip or Water Gun?"

Marina shook her head.

"No Aqua Ring or Hydro Pump or Double Edge or Bubble Beam?"

"Silver, Lyra's Marill doesn't even _know_ those types of moves yet."

"I know. But it should." He smirked.

Lyra grinned to herself, as her plan was coming into action. And all Whitney could do was watch the two Pokémon Rollout back and forth. As Miltank kept missing, Marill kept on striking.

"Time out! Here, Miltank, drink this." Whitney handed her a Super Potion.

"Whoa! That's cheating!"

"No, it's not."

_Dang it! One more Rollout, and Miltank could have fainted! I gotta think of something else.._

Out of nowhere, a bright beam of flashing light emerged from Lyra's Marill.

"W-what's happening?" Lyra panicked, staring at Marill.

Marina clapped her hands enthusiastically. "Evolution time!"

"Hmph." Whitney stuck her nose up in the air. "Congratulations. Your Marill has evolved into an Azumarill."

"What? Really?" the small trainer took a step closer to the now 1 inch taller aqua rabbit Pokémon. "Azumarill!" she screamed, giving it a hug. Azumarill hugged back.

"Are you done now?" Whitney asked as she pulled a nail file out of her back pocket, filing her nails and looking bored.

"You're kidding, right?" Lyra smiled evilly. "It's time to win."

* * *

"Grandma! Grandpa! Look what I did!" Lyra burst in the door of the Day Care Center excitedly, as Gold, Silver, and Marina followed in behind.

"What, Lyra? Keep your voice down. I've got a Pichu and an Igglybuff sleeping in the next room.." an elderly woman limped from out behind the counter, her gray hair pulled back into a tight bun.

"I'm sorry.. I just.." she smiled and gave her a hug.

"Thank you for visiting. What is it that you wanted to share with me?"

Not saying anything, Lyra showed the Day Care Lady her new badge. She looked surprised.

"My, my! You beat our very own Whitney! Soul, come have a look see at what your granddaughter got!"

This time, an elderly man walked out, holding a Swineub. "Oh, hello, Lyra dear. What's the big news?"

"She won a battle. Big deal. She won two before this one." Silver leaned up against a wall, remembering back to what he said about her not being able to win anything. He hated being proved wrong.

"Oh, Lyra! Who's this tall handsome young man? Is he your boyfriend?"

"I'm appalled that you would even think that." Silver made a face.

"Yeah, well. You're not the only one who got offended. Granny, Silver's not my type. I don't date guys who dress like skaters."

"Oh, right. I forgot. You're dating Gold." Day Care Lady grinned.

Lyra blushed. Gold looked away.

"Yeah, she wishes! I-" Silver's shouting got cut short by Marina's hand covering his mouth.

"Mr. And Mrs. Soul. It's been a while!"

"Oh, Marina Crystal. My, how you've grown!" The Day Care Man went to give her a hug. She had to bend down to hug him back. "I'm so glad you decided not to dye your hair blue."

"Wait.. _what_?" Silver gave her a look, but she put a finger over her mouth as if to say, "Don't say anything."

"How are your parents doing?"

"Oh, they're doing fine, Mr. Soul. Thank you."

"Well. I'm glad to finally see Lyra making good use of that Marill she got all those years ago." The Day Care Lady said.

"Actually, it evolved!"

"Oh good for you dear! Keep it up!"

"Thanks, Gran-Gran. We're all going to Ecruteak City next. I'll call you when we get there."

* * *

"Soo.. what was that all about? Is that why you dyed your hair brown?"

"Yes, Silver. My family always knew that I wanted my hair blue. Ever since I was a little girl. But they were so against it. That's another reason I liked being on my own. Cause I could finally dye my hair. But I had to dye it back cause I knew we'd be visiting Lyra's grandparents while we were in this city."

Silver closed his eyes and shook his head really quickly. "Wait, you mean to tell me that you didn't dye your hair blue because you wanted to help me?"

"Well.. that was part of it.." she smiled guiltily.

"Oh my God. How convenient for you." Silver went to go help Gold pack some bags in the living room. Lyra was sitting on the couch messing around with her Pokégear.

"Well well well- hey!" Lyra got a pair of dark gray Social Collision skinny jeans thrown at her. "You meanie! I didn't even say anything yet!"

"Yeah, well, I knew it wasn't gonna be anything I wanted to hear. So." Silver folded a sweater.

Gold giggled. "You're so impatient!" he put a pair of TOMS in his bag.

"Hey, Gold, let me borrow your shoes," Marina asked.

"They're too small for you. Gold has like the tiniest feet."

Gold blushed. Silver looked at him and sighed. "I didn't mean like that. They're very cute."

"Oh!" Gold smiled again.

"Whatever. We gotta go. Come on, Lyra."

"Wait, why?"

"We've got stuff of our own to pack." Marina slung her bag on her shoulder and grabbed the keys to their room.

"'Kay. Bye, Gold!" Lyra smiled. Gold waved and smiled back.

"Ew. Get out already.." Silver muttered as he stuffed his toothbrush in a zipper compartment.

"Oh Silver. Don't be like that.."

"Like what? I'm not feeling well." He collapsed on the floor, putting his hands under his head. Gold climbed on top of Silver in a sitting position, while his hands pressed down on Silver's stomach for support.

"Hmm?" Silver blinked. "What's all this? You're being awfully feisty with me today."

"I just wanted to make you feel better. That's all."

Silver smirked. "Thanks, but that's my job," he rolled over so that he was on top of Gold now. He held Gold's wrists down with his hands and went in for a kiss, obviously not holding back. Getting more and more restless, Silver took it further and further, not even giving Gold a chance for him to kiss back this time.

Instantly, their positions became clear of where they stood in their relationship just by that very moment. Silver took on the dominant role, being the one with the most power and the one who controlled everything. And Gold was the dependent one, feeding off of everything Silver did and going along with it, having no say in the matter.

It was blatantly obvious for Marina and Lyra too, who Silver and Gold thought had left minutes ago. Instead, they were just watching, not being able to avert their eyes anywhere else.

'_Wow'_, Lyra's hand got drawn to her mouth as she thought to herself. _'I won a gym battle today.. so why does it feel like I've lost everything..?'_

**(Social Collision jeans are a brand of skinny jeans they sell at Hot Topic that me && my friends wear. Just incase you were wondering. LOL, this is random, but one time me && my friend Jakob were sitting at lunch && I look down && we're both wearing the same pair of jeans. && they were Social Collision Xd) Totally irrelevant to this fic. T.T (Oh! &&TOMS are shoes! I don't wear them, but everyone at my school does. So. Where I live, everyone's into "labels".Whatever.)**


	32. Playing God

**Let's play a game: for this chapter, please turn your settings in the top right corner on "Dark", && when the lights come back on in the actual story, please click "Light" again. Thanks.**

The atmosphere was almost bleak, as the summer less sky showed no signs of sun. Inside the room, the blinds were closed and the lights were turned off, as you could hear the rain falling in silence from the outside. There was no emotion being felt by the two bodies occupying the space on the floor, as one lay on top of the other. Their breathing was going off into different patterns until they became in-sync with each other's.

"Mmm.." the smaller boy sighed, shutting his eyes in pain. He clutched onto the larger boy's shirt, still lying on top of him.

"Bad dream..?" Silver murmured to himself, wide-awake, staring at the ceiling.

"I'm fine.." Gold whispered.

"You don't have to lie to me. I know when something's bothering you." Silver said in a low voice, stroking his boyfriend's hair. Gold said nothing, drifting off back into his slumber.

"You know," Silver continued after a while, with no idea that Gold was half asleep, "something's been bothering _me. _It's getting harder and harder to suppress these urges that I'm having.. for you.."

"Urges..?"

"Yes."

"What kind of urges?"

Silver's eyes closed. "I'm like a vampire who's suffering without the blood of a human."

Gold squirmed uncomfortably for a little bit. "Am I the human?"

"I guess you are."

"So.. I'm making you suffer..? By not wanting to do it with you?"

"Gold, go back to sleep. I'm just thinking out loud here."

"No," he sat up. "I'm awake now."

Sighing, Silver stared at the boy who was now sitting on top of him. "Get down here."

"No," he said again, pouting.

"I take it back. You're not the human."

"Then who is? Blue?"

Silver, smiling in annoyance, calmly lifted Gold off of him. "You just love doing that, don't you?" he got up and walked away, trying to remove himself from a bad situation. Then, in a delayed reaction, he pushed a lamp against the wall, making it shatter, and making Gold cringe. Silver started breathing heavily, like he was about to break something else, with his fists clenched. All Gold could do was look on at him, frightened. Silver put his hood over his head and slammed the door shut, walking in the other room.

* * *

"Hey! Open up the door!" some banging could be heard on the outside of their room, and loud urgent yells from a girl. She realized that it was open after a while, and let herself in. She flicked on the lights and squinted at the drastic change from dark to light, her eyes adjusting.

"Gold?"

He whipped his head around to see Marina dripping wet from the rain in a black button-up sweater and shorts. Her hair was pulled back sloppily in a headband, showing all the layers of her brown hair.

"What's the matter? Why do your eyes look so red? Have you been crying" she bent down to take a better look at him, worriedly. He sniffed. "I heard a loud noise, and I.." Marina turned her head, as the broken lamp on the floor caught her attention. She wasted no time standing up, running toward the room she figured Silver would be in. Marina almost collided with him, as he came out of his room at that very second she walked up to it. She took a step back, making one of her flip-flops fold over on the end of her heel.

"What are you doing here.."

"Why did you knock that lamp over?"

"I asked you first!" he shoved her out of the way, making her fall back into the wall.

"Silver Heart!" Marina got herself together and followed him. "I'm worried about Gold's safety!"

"You should be worried about your own!" Silver shouted, looking at her with wild eyes.

She stood her ground. "You won't hurt me."

"Do you really think testing that little theory of yours is the wisest decision you could be making right now? Do you really want to push your luck?"

"I know you Silver. The _real_ Silver. Not this 'tough guy' Silver that plays all these games. The Silver that looked out for me when we were kids. The Silver who would defend me, and never let anything happen to me. What happened to _that_ Silver?"

"He's GONE! And if you're out looking for him, then you're just wasting your time.."

"I'm not wasting any time at all, because I'm going to find him and bring him back! Silver, you were such a good friend-"

"Yeah, well I wish I could say the same for you."

Marina was livid.

"What are you talking about?"

"You didn't even recognize me when we first met up in this region after 3 years!"

"You didn't recognize _me_, either!"

"I could never forget that smile.. that face.." Silver's head lowered. "Plus, when Lyra said your last name and Gold said your first, I knew exactly who you were. There's no forgetting you, Crystal."

"But you acted just as surprised as I did when we found out! Am I just stupid? Why didn't you tell me it was you before?"

"Because I wanted you to figure it out!"

"Cut me some slack. It was 3 years.."

"Why? You never cut _me_ any! 'Silver, stop taking advantage of Gold!' 'Silver, stop being so mean to Lyra!' 'Silver, stop dying your hair so much!' 'Silver, get over Blue already!' Silver this and Silver that!"

"Are you done? Because that was a terrible impression of me. Besides, that's what _everyone_ says about you, not just me. So if you're looking for someone to blame, look at yourself."

"Do you honestly think that I'm the only one at fault here? Stop acting like you're older than me! I'm sick of that!"

"And I'm sick of you and your behavior! You've ruined for everyone what was supposed to be a happy experience! A journey is supposed to be fun, not stressful!" She smiled a bit in sadness, thinking of a memory. "I'm so glad I went on my Kanto quest alone. I know now that if I would have went with you, you would have only brought me down."

Silver smacked her, a loud _slap! _noise bouncing off her cheek. She rubbed it, but never gave him the satisfaction of a tear.

"Next time you point a finger, I might have to bend it back, or break it off," he growled.

"Next time _you _point a finger, I'll point you to a mirror."


	33. Go To Hell

**"Go To Hell"= stupid filler chapter. The reason why most my chapters are short sorta kinda is because I dislike proofreading for a very long time. So to prevent that, I write smaller chapters. **

The next day, the rain had stopped and the clouds had disappeared from the sky. Two young ladies stepped up to a small oriental building, with very traditional patterns.

The first girl was petit, about 15 years of age, carrying a Togepi in her arms. She had lengthy straight dark brown hair that was covered at the top with an off-white hat. A bright red bow was safety pinned on one side for a more girly appearance. She had no makeup on, making her look less alive than usual, and her nails were painted teal. She wore a red strapless tank top with designs of stars on the front. To complete the look, a denim mini skirt hugged her hips tightly, and long white socks came above her knees.

The girl beside her was much taller, owning the age of 17. She sported choppy short light brown hair, and had a similar facial structure of the smaller girl next to her, but with a light purple bruise on her right cheek. The older one wore white jeggings, simple black slip-ons, and her favourite white jacket. On the inside were all the badges she won so far; leaving space for the ones she'd obtain later. The Snubbull beside her fiddled with the blue collar on its neck, as they inched closer to the building.

"Lyra.."

"Yeah, Crystal?"

"This isn't the gym.."

Lyra stared at her, wide-eyed. "Why didn't you tell me that earlier?"

"I thought- Oh, I don't know what I was thinking. You just randomly stopped here." She pushed the door open, the Pokéballs on her hips making loud noises as they came in contact with each other, like the way car-keys jingle. Togepi hopped out of Lyra's arms and led the way inside.

"Oh! Look! Dancers!" Lyra looked on in awe at five beautiful girls in kimonos, swaying gracefully with their Pokémon.

"Hmph." Marina put her hands on her hips. "I could do that. Anyone could do that."

"Then why don't you give it a try?" a man in a brown suit and a hat snuck up from behind her. "Would you like to?"

"Uh.. uh.." she stammered, not exactly sure.

"Right this way," the man led her backstage into a dressing room, making her mind up for her.

Lyra shrugged and turned her attention back to the girls. She noticed their Pokémon, and listed them all aloud, pointing with one finger. "Espeon.. Umbreon.. Jolteon.. Flareon.. Vaporeon..!" she gasped. "They're all evolutions of Eevee!" Lyra looked around into the audience, trying to find her cousin and that mysterious man. "Hey, wait! I want to be a kimono girl, too!"

* * *

Silence. There was nothing but pure silence as Gold and Silver stared at each other, sitting on the floor. Gold sat criss-cross applesauce, while Silver sat relaxed; his long legs stretching out on either side of Gold's. He had been looking like he wanted to say something but every time he did he closed his mouth. Silver took his glasses off and blinked.

"What are you doing?"

"I.. I.."

"You? You? You what?"

"I want to say I'm sorry, but I know you don't like that.. so.." Gold put his head down. Silver dragged him into his lap and kissed him ever so gently, their lips barely touching. When he was done, Gold frowned. Silver frowned too, wishing he knew why Gold was frowning.

"What now?"

"That's not usually how you kiss me."

Silver turned away slightly, not sure what to make of Gold's bluntness. "Are you.. _complaining_?"

"Yeah. Usually you're a lot more forcefully aggressive. Did I do something wrong?" he asked cluelessly, pointing to himself.

Silver couldn't believe it. "I broke a lamp yesterday, nearly scared you half to death, and slapped my best friend. And you're asking me if _you_ did something wrong?"

"Yeah."

"Gold, get up."

He sighed and did as told, while Silver stood up and walked to the kitchen. Gold followed him.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm getting food. Why else would I be in the kitchen?" he opened the fridge and bent down to see what was inside, then closed it and stood all the way up. "I kinda want pasta.."

"Oh! Can I help make it?"

"Sure."

"Okay!" Gold smiled, wanting to redeem himself for the thing he thought he did wrong. He saw the open cabinet and looked for some seasoning. He saw some pepper and extended his arm to get it, but couldn't, despite him standing on his tippy toes. Silver saw him struggle and got the pepper for him, putting it in Gold's hand.

"Jeez, I'm really glad you're so tall!"

"Yeah," Silver said under his breath. "I guess it comes in handy." He examined the spice cabinet thoroughly, going through all of it. "We don't even have any sauce.."

"Aww!"

"It's nothing to cry over; I'll just ask Crystal if she has any." He grabbed his hoodie from the back of a chair and put his shoes on.

As Silver walked down the halls of the Pokémon Center, he quickly peeked around the corner, trying to find Lyra's and Marina's room. Once he found it, he barged right in and found the girls both dolled up in kimono attire. The hair, the makeup, the shoes. Everything. Silver burst out in laughter.

"Go to hell," Lyra cursed before she slammed the door in his face.


	34. Robots And Aliens

"**Robots && Aliens"= stupid dramatic lame cheesy chapter that I had in my head for a while && wanted to make come to life, leading up to a much better, more epic chapter. Which comes right after this. If I had to pick, I'd say that the character in this fic that I'm most like is Silver, because we're both impatient. (That's our only similarity; I'm not mean, I promise! xD) But I **_**think**_** mostly like Lyra, meaning we have the same thought process. So I couldn't help but write all her feelings out && turn it into this. (She's my least favorite character though. Is that a bit mean? I wish I were more like Marina: smart and beautiful. Although she's just my type when it comes to dating.)**

"Gold.."

"Hmm?"

"We have to be quick about this, or Silver will find us.." Lyra sat on the grass with her knees hugged up against her chest in Moo Moo Farm.

"Why are we all the way out here, anyway?" Gold wiped his forehead and looked around, reaching out to pet a Miltank.

"Because I wanted us to be alone! For once!" she patted the grass beside her, motioning for Gold to sit. He got the message and sat down.

"I don't think you really need to worry. Silver's asleep, and will be for a while. He's a heavy sleeper, despite him being an insomniac."

"Good to know." She rolled her eyes. "But I really didn't come here to talk about him. I came for us."

"What about us? We're fine."

"We're not fine. We're in trouble."

"Why?" Gold raised an eyebrow. "What'd you do?"

"Gold! It's what you did!"

"Me?"

"You ran off without telling me!"

Gold blinked. "Oh. That? I thought you were over that?"

"Not even close."

"But everything's okay now. You're traveling with Marina."

"But Crystal's not YOU."

He stared at Lyra, more attentive now.

"It's always been you, Gold. Always. I love you. I never regretted telling you I loved you. The only regret I have is never hearing what you really thought of me."

"Lyra.. you already know—"

"Don't spare my feelings! Yes, I already know how you feel, but I wanted you to reject me properly! To my face! I know that sounds backwards, but that's how I feel and how I want things done."

Gold looked down, not being able to meet Lyra's gaze any longer. "I just.. I didn't want to hurt you."

"Too late for that. You ran off without me." Gold didn't say anything. She kept talking. "Why did you do that? Ever since you started dating Silver, you've been kind of distant towards me. Scratch that, you've been distant towards me! How am I supposed to feel?"

Gold said nothing, biting into an apple that he picked off of a small tree earlier.

"Gold?"

"Are you waiting for me to reject you now? Cause I'm not gonna do that. I wouldn't wanna do that."

Lyra shook her head and sighed. "I don't know what I see in you. You're not very tall, you're not very bright, and you're not very manly. I don't-"

"Hey! Everyone's full of flaws! Why do you love me then?" Gold yelled with a mouthful of apple.

"Let me finish. I was just saying you're not what most girls my age look for in a guy, and that I don't know what makes me love you. All I know is that I do, and" she looked south "every time I try to get over you, the feeling gets stronger." She was crying now. "I want to move on but I'm scared. I'm scared I'll never find anyone like you! Sure, Crystal's great, but I wanted to go with you! I wanted to be with you! And it's killing me! Because I'll NEVER have that chance!"

Gold dropped his apple and got up, reaching out to grab Lyra's arm.

"What?" she stood up, tears falling down in the process.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you I was leaving. Better yet, I should have never left without you. Because you are my best friend, no matter what. It was always a dream of ours to travel together with our Pokémon. And I shattered it completely. You waited so long.. Do you remember what you said to me, Lyra? When we were younger?"

Lyra nodded and started bawling again, into Gold's shoulder. Gold gave her a hug and held her in his arms.

"I said, 'When you come around, I'll be waiting for you. It's alright, you can take all the time that you'd like. I just wanna make you-" Lyra backed away from him and covered her mouth.

"What? What was that last part? I just wanna make you..?"

"Um. Heh," she dried her eyes. "That day, when we were like 12 or 13..- Well, I was 12 and you were 13.. but.. I was thinking to myself in my head, 'I just wanna make you mine.'"

Gold thought back to that day. "I remember. We were watching a movie.. and were on the floor playing with some of my toys.."

"Robots and aliens."

"Really?"

"Uh huh. And my princess dolls were the ones being abducted by the aliens' spaceship."

Looking up into the sky, Gold had a quick thought enter his mind.

"Let's run away."

"Hm?"

"Let's run away together. You. Me. No one to bother us. Just like you wanted. Let's be best friends again."

"What?" Lyra's eyes were huge, scanning his face for any kind of indication that he was kidding. He wasn't. "What about Silver?"

"This time, I just want to be with you. Our own little adventure. The one you missed out on. The one we never had."

Lyra looked into Gold's gray eyes with her brown ones, and noticed for the first time that she was looking up. "Gold, did you grow taller or am I just shrinking?"

"I'm five three."

"Huh? Since when?"

"There's this height measurement thingy up on the wall at the Pokémon Center. I just stood against it, and Nurse Joy said I was five three and a half."

"Oh!" Lyra clapped her hands and smiled. "Amazing!"

Gold blushed. "It's not a big deal. So, princess. Ready for abduction?"

Lyra laughed. "Which one are you? The robot, or the alien?"


	35. Different Pages

**Adding a new character= a distraction for Silver so Lyra won't be the one he's mad at, instead taking all his anger out on the new person. You're welcome, Lyra. I just saved your ass. And I don't even like you.**

Gold and Lyra were the best of friends, who did everything together and had a good time doing it. During the entire day, they played on the playground, talked to people in different houses, and just goofed off in general. Somehow, losing track of time and where they were, they ended up back in Goldenrod.

"Hey, Gold!" Lyra was out of breath, after she challenged him to a race. "Let's go inside there!" she pointed to an arcade.

"What? The Game Corner?"

"Yeah! Let's go there!" without waiting to see if he wanted to go to, she ran in. Gold shook his head and ran after her.

Inside, there were brightly lit multi-coloured lights and a trance techno pop track blasting through the speakers. Everyone was focused on gambling and beating their high scores. Especially one boy, who Lyra ran over to watch. She stood on her tippy toes, her four foot eleven frame barely able to glance over his shoulder. Gold came to watch as well, intrigued by how fast he clicked the buttons on the machine. Once he had beaten the game, some coins came out, and he quickly placed them in his Coin Case.

"Hey, you were great!"

"Ah" Lyra's high-sounding voice startled the boy as he turned around. "Oh, uh, thanks," he smiled with his eyes closed as his arm reached up to scratch the back of his head modestly. "I haven't been playing for a while, though. I just got good at this game."

"You could have fooled me! You make it look so easy!" Gold thought he was very talented.

"It's pretty easy, actually. Here," he gestured for Gold to sit.

"Um.. okay," Gold sat down and had his hands hovered on the buttons, ready to click away. Once the game started, he just went with the flow.

"Wait," the boy leaned in closer to Gold, pressing his chest up against his back. He rested his chin on Gold's shoulder and put his hands on top of his. "Now go left, and click this button right here.." the boy's voice sounded very low, very concentrated. Gold didn't have to do a thing, as the boy was doing everything for him. Once the game was finished, he stood up. "Good!" he clapped his hands once. "You did very good!"

Gold spun around in the chair and the boy helped him up. "By the way, my name's Ruby. What's yours?"

"I'm Gold. And this is Lyra. But Ethan's my real name."

"Then why do they call you Gold?"

"'Cause it's my last name."

"Oh! You go by your last name too? Sweet!"

"Hah. Yeah." Gold smiled.

"Oh," Lyra looked at the clock. "We'd better go."

"Hmm?" Ruby looked at it as well. "It is a bit late. Mind if I walk you guys home?"

* * *

"Excuse me," Ruby held both Lyra and Gold's hands, raising them up. "Do these two belong to you?"

"Oh my gosh! Thank you so much!" Marina screamed out in the doorway of their room. "Please, come in!" They all walked inside, still hand-in-hand. "We had been worried sick! They had been gone for hours, and-"

"Who are you?" Silver interrupted with a mean tone of voice, glaring at Ruby. Everyone turned to look at him. Gold let go of Ruby's hand immediately.

"Hi," he waved. "I'm Ruby. It's great to meet you all-"

"I don't find it so great," Silver interrupted yet again, getting up from the couch. He was now staring down at the boy who had messy white hair with a black headband on, wore all black just like Silver, and appeared to be just about 4 inches shorter than him. Ruby smiled at him and continued.

"I met them at the Game Corner, and offered to walk them here since it was so late. I didn't mean to cause any trouble, honestly."

"You didn't, Silver's just being an ass. Like usual." Marina took Lyra away from Ruby as they left Gold and Silver's room. "Thanks again, Ruby. It's passed this girl's bedtime." The door closed shut.

"Shouldn't you be going as well?" Silver asked, glaring down at him.

"Silver! Don't be mean!" Gold whined.

Ruby beamed at him and bent down to cup his hand on Gold's cheek. "No, he's right. Besides, I get the feeling I'm not welcome here."

"Oh, is it just a feeling? Maybe I need to make it more clear: leave." Silver fake smiled, putting his hands in his pockets so he wouldn't hit Ruby in the face.

"Alright," he stood up to go.

"Wait!" Gold pulled on Ruby's jacket sleeve. Ruby smiled down at him.

"Haha. You're so cute. What is it, Gold?"

"Tell me your first name."

"My first name? Oh, it's uh.. Brendan."

"Brendan?" Gold gasped. "I really like that name!"

"Do you? Well then, from now on, you can call me that if you'd like."

"Okay! Bye, Brendan!" he waved.

"Bye Gold. See you soon." Ruby closed the door.

"I hate him."

"What?" Gold turned to look over at Silver, who was fuming. "Why?"

"Because he called you 'cute.'"

"But.." Gold pointed a finger up at his face. "You call me cute all the time."

"That's because it's true. But hearing someone else saying it to you.. drives me insane.." Silver sat down on the floor, putting his face in his hands.

"But you shouldn't hate him. Just because he called me cute."

Silver looked up. "Do you even realize just how cute you are?"

Gold tilted his head to the side innocently. "No."

"See!" Silver pointed his finger. "That right there! What you just did!"

"What? What? What'd I just do?"

Silver sighed. "I think the cutest thing about you is you not even realizing how adorable you really are."

Gold said nothing and sat in his lap, clinging onto his arm. Silver lowered his head to kiss him gently. Gold pouted.

"What's wrong now?"

"You're not being rough with me.."

"Do you _like_ it rough? I'm trying to do you a favor and not be so careless with you."

"No, I'm saying when you kiss me softly like that, it doesn't seem like you're being yourself."

"Right. 'Cause that's me. Mean old nasty Silver. Not caring about anyone's feelings. And the one time he tries to, Gold doesn't like it."

"Don't be like that."

"But we're on two different pages. How can I _not_ be like that?"

**So it seems like every chapter I write, they go in a circle like this. Fighting, making up, fighting again. Sorry if that's a bore, but it's the only thing I know how to do. You know, "ruining" a mood. I'm good at that. Onee-chan (Elizabeth) says I'm also very good at cliffhangers and plot twists.**

**Oh, right, about the Ruby thing. I grew up thinking that white thing on his head was his hair, so if that bothers you, sorry. To this day, I still don't really know if it's a hat or not. But I like to think of it as hair. :] (Even though I'm probably wrong.)**

**Obviously in the next chapter I'll be having some scenes where Ruby tries to hit on Gold. Because yes, sometimes I like to make Silver upset. (Also please anticipate the arrival of Sapphire, as well.)**


	36. If You Seek May

"Yeah.. yeah, I'm fine. Silver's fine. We're all fine. No, I don't want you to save my money! 'Cause then you'll buy me stuff that I don't need. What.. Yes you will! I know you! Okay, mom. Yep. Lyra's doin' good. She won a gym battle the other day, and we hung out yesterday. Mom, no! Bye, I'm hanging up now!" Gold clicked the "END" button on his Pokégear, blushing and looking away.

"What'd she say?" Silver asked, stuffing his mouth full of scrambled eggs. Gold shifted his legs nervously. When he wouldn't say anything, Silver kicked him from under the dining room table.

"Ow!"

"Talk to me."

"She asked if I was dating Lyra yet." He said hesitantly.

Silver downed his OJ in one gulp, and stood up to carry his empty plate in the sink. "I forgot how much I liked you mom."

"Was that sarcasm?"

"No."

"Was _that _sarcasm?"

"_No._"

The doorbell rang. Gold ran to answer it, and found Ruby standing there. "Brendan!" he gave him a hug. Ruby hugged back.

"Hey Gold! What's up? Mind if I come in?"

"Yes." Silver said bluntly, washing his plate in the sink.

"Don't listen to him. You can come on in if you'd like. Want some breakfast?"

"Only if you'll feed it to me." Ruby smiled a charming smile. The water stopped in the kitchen.

"Eh heh heh.. I'm actually the one who gets 'fed', around here.." Gold blushed. Ruby laughed.

"Just kidding. I'm not hungry. I came over here to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Well. I'm not from here, actually."

"Where are you from then?"

"Another.. region. Don't worry about it. It's not that important. Anyway, I was wondering.. I'm trying to find a girl named May. Have you seen her? She's got short brown hair, around 20 years old, wears red all the time.."

Gold shook his head.

"Drat. Well, can you help me look for her then?"

"Sure, Brendan."

"Absolutely not." Silver walked up to the two boys, drying his hands with a towel.

"Silver! Why not?"

Ruby smirked. "Who knows, Gold. Maybe he's got trust issues. Like he can't let you out of the house or something without a leash."

Silver shot him a fierce glance. Ruby returned it with a smile.

"You don't trust me?" Gold looked up at Silver with sad eyes. Silver's expression softened into a less threatening one.

"No, Gold. I trust you. It's _him _I don't trust."

Gold pouted.

"Oh, Gold." Ruby gave him a quick hug, then let go. "You're so cute, I could just kiss you."

Silver's heart stopped. "I **dare** you."

Ruby blinked. "Why are you being so defensive when it comes to Gold? It's like you guys are dating, or something."

"Boy, you sure do catch on quick. Nothing gets past you, huh?" Silver said in monotone.

"Was that sarcasm?" Ruby wondered.

"No."

"Was _that_ sarcasm?"

"_No._"

Ruby adjusted the headband on his head awkwardly. "I think so.."

Gold nodded his head and smiled. "Yes, Brendan, we are dating. We've been dating for a while now."

"Hmm. Alright then. Let's see a kiss."

The couple just stared at him in silence.

"What? I'm not speaking Isshu-language, here!"

"Even if you _were_, I'd be able to understand you." Silver folded his arms over his chest.

"Um.." Gold took a step toward Silver nervously and stood on his tippy toes. "Come down here.."

Silver backed away. "Since when do I take orders from _you_? It should be the other way around."

Gold stood back on his feet, while Ruby laughed at them.

"It's like I'm watching some dramatic love comedy on TV! This is better than TV! Please, continue!" he sat down and put his face in his hands.

"Get out. We're not here for your entertainment!" Silver screamed, just as the door hit Ruby in the back.

"Ow!" he got up swiftly to find himself standing in front of Marina.

"Sorry, Ruby. Silver! Are you coming to watch Lyra's gym battle today?"

"No. I've got other plans."

"Like what?"

"Like not watching Lyra's gym battle today."

Marina walked all the way in now, facing everyone. "Come on!"

"Why don't you ask Gold?"

"Because I know Gold's going to come no matter what."

"Actually, I can't make it."

Marina frowned. "What? Why?"

"I've got to go help Brendan find his girlfriend, May."

"Oh? Girlfriend? Is she pretty?"

Silver sighed. Here we go.

"Well.." Ruby laughed nervously. "She's not exactly my girlfriend.. she's more of a friend. And yes, I'd say so. She's stunning, smart, friendly, beautiful-"

"A-_ha_!" Marina moved her finger up and down. "So you DO like her!"

"Uh.."

"I want to see her, now! Forget Lyra's gym battle. Let's go find May!" she grabbed his hand to go without another word, and left the room.

"Can I go with them, Silver?"

"I already told you no."

"Why..?" Gold pouted.

"Oh, don't go making that face. I told you I don't trust him."

"But Marina will be with us!"

"Who said I trusted _her_? Besides, I'd be way too lonely without you, and-" Silver stopped, turning around to cover his mouth.


	37. Tell Me

**A couple days ago, Stephy mentioned in a review that she thought I had something planned for you guys later on in the story. She was right. Here it is.**

"Mmm? What was that?"

"Nothing. It was nothing."

"Silver! You just admitted that you'd miss me!"

"No! Well.. y-yeah.. Naturally I would. I really can't stand being away from you.." he shifted his body a little to glance down at Gold's expression. Gold merely just smiled and looked at the floor, drawing circles in the carpet with his toes.

"I feel the exact same way.. I think I've always felt that way. I.. I love you, Silver."

Silver suddenly bent down to Gold's height level, and it reminded them both of when they first met. _No friendship, no nothing.. got it?_ Oh, how quickly that had changed.

Silver's heart sped up. "You.. love me?"

Gold nodded and looked into his silver eyes, repeating it once more. "I love you."

The blond stood all the way up now, grinning from ear to ear and talking to himself. "He loves me.. Gold loves me." He paced around the room back and forth, saying those same things over and over again, smiling.

"Silver..?" Gold wondered what was wrong with him. "Are you okay?"

Silver looked down at him. "Yes! Are you kidding me? This is the happiest I've been in my entire life. You just told me you loved me. _Me. _The person who could never be loved. The mean, insensitive, 'doesn't care about anything or anyone' asshole just got told that his boyfriend loves him." He closed his eyes and smiled real big, sitting on the edge of the couch. "I love you too, Gold."

Gold didn't know what to say. Just then, it was like Silver was a whole other person. "Silver, what happened to you?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

Gold shook his head and sat in his lap.

"Tell me you love me. Say it. Say it again." He requested, as Gold's legs wrapped around Silver's waist.

"I love you, Silver Heart. I love everything about you. Your smile. Your laugh. Your long legs. Your slender figure. The fact that you always wear blacks and dark grays. Your shining silver eyes that match perfectly with your name. The way your blond hair flips out at the ends, and how your hair falls perfectly into a swoop over your face. I love the way you walk with such confidence, and the way you pace around the room when you're mad or just anxious. The way you cross your arms over your chest with such masculinity. The way your voice gets when you're being sarcastic, and the way it grows deeper when you're angry. I love the face you make when you take a sip of your coffee, and it's too hot. I love it when you fuss over me, telling me to do things the right way, and always protecting me. I love how you always have to bend down to my height, and how special it makes me feel. I love how I always feel the need to cling to you, because I'm so needy. I love watching you battle, always determined to win, no matter what. Never giving up. I love it when you pick me up and hold me in your arms. I love it when you tell me I'm cute or adorable and stroke my hair. I love how you're so aggressive with me, climbing on top of me and holding my wrists down so that I can't move. I love it when we kiss. I love it when we fall asleep together. I love it when we hold hands. I love it when.. um.." Gold's eyebrows pulled together.

Silver laughed. "Ran out of things, already?"

"Um.." Gold blushed, hiding his face into Silver's chest. He felt really embarrassed.

Silver shook his head and smiled, bringing one arm around Gold's back to hold him closer, stroking his hair. "Took you long enough. Although, I do believe that one of the things I'm doing right now was on your list."

Gold put his arms around him, gripping the back of his shirt.

"Gold.." Silver whispered seductively into his ear. Gold only gripped his shirt tighter. Silver continued, in a sexy voice. "Gold.. I can't hold back any longer.. Not after you just told me all that stuff you loved about me.."

Gold knew exactly what that meant. He leaned back to look at Silver's face, as Silver licked his lips suggestively.

"W-what are you talking about?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer. Silver's smile turned into a sick, twisted grin.

"I want to see you squirm like a girl when I stick it inside of you."

Gold's body tensed up, as he felt Silver grab him in his arms, carrying him into the bedroom. He set him down on the bed, as Silver slowly climbed on top of him, a naughty look on his face. "Hey, Gold?"

"Y-yeah..?"

"Remember how you said you loved me?" Silver took his shirt off, un-zipping the jeans he had on.

"Yeah.." Gold watched him as he felt the sting of blood run down from his nose.

"Hold on to that."

"Why?"

Silver whispered in his ear breathlessly. "Because you won't like me very much by the time I'm done having my way with you."

* * *

**SilversaidIloveyou. Check, okay. (Making a list of things he should do by the end of the story; just checked that off, out of like, a million other things.)**

**So this next part, I guess, you could consider it a deleted scene.. But it does NOT happen right after what you just read; let's be clear. I wrote this with nothing attatched. (ie no real beginning or end.) This could have happened weeks ago, or this could take place in the future. All I know is that I wrote it. I was gonna trash it, but decided to include it in this chapter because I thought it was too short. So here you go. It's called "Much Better".**

* * *

During the late afternoon, Gold was found wearing one of Silver's jackets, watching some TV. He sipped some hot chocolate, shivering every now and then. His Butterfree rested on his shoulder, slowly falling asleep.

Silver came out, moments later, drowzily rubbing his head. "Hey, Gold."

"Good afternoon, Silver."

"Yeah.. wait, _what_?" he looked at the clock, that read 3:52 PM. "I overslept? Why didn't you wake me?"

"Because you would have screamed at me and gotten angry."

"It's too late for that! Now I'm pissed!"

"Same old same old.." he took another drink of the chocolate, changing the station on the remote.

"Ugh. Why are you wearing my jacket?"

"Am I not allowed to?"

"I'm just asking why."

"Well, it's cold in here. That's all."

"Then why don't you just turn up the heat on the thermostat."

"Because it was too high for me to reach."

"Oh. Well it feels fine in here to me."

"I get cold easily. Would you please change it for me?"

"Yeah, sure thing." he clicked the button, changing the degrees. Afterwards, he sat next to Gold and drank his hot chocolate.

"That jacket's too big for you."

"I know. That's because you're huge."

Silver frowned. "Am I?" he lifted his shirt, observing his flat stomach.

"I didn't mean you were fat, I meant that you're.. just super tall."

"Oh.." Silver pulled his shirt down.

"Besides, you've got abs, I think, right?" Gold put a hand on them. "Yeah. I feel them. So don't be so insecure, alright?"

"I'm not insecure! I just.. I wanted to be sure. I really care what you think about me. I want you to think I'm hot."

"I _do_ think you're hot. I tell you that everyday." Gold clung to Silver's arm. "I love you. Soooo much. I don't even deserve a person like you."

Silver shut his eyes. "Sometimes I wish I could get inside that head of yours."

"Why?"

"Because you deserve **_much_** better."


	38. I'm A Monster

**I love Martiny. Her reviews always make me laugh. (Although I'd have to say I agree with her on the whole "Silver should'nt be a blond" thing.) I'll work it out later.**

"Silver.." Gold whimpered, resting his head on his shoulder. Silver was unable to hear him, being so exhausted from last night's festivities. "Silver.." Gold poked his cheek. Silver opened one eye. "Wake up.. please?"

Silver sat up groggily, rubbing his head full of messy blond hair. "What?"

"I don't feel good.." he whimpered again.

"What's wrong?" Silver yawned loudly. "Was I too hard on you last night?" Gold didn't say anything, and that caught Silver's attention more than it should have. "Oh no. I was, wasn't I? I completely zoned out.. Are you hurt?"

Gold didn't say anything again.

"Gold! I need to know!"

He almost cried. "I.. I can't feel my legs.."

Silver made a face. "What?" he pulled the covers away to have a look for himself, and found light purple bruises all over his body. Silver was speechless, running his eyes over every inch of Gold. He touched his legs, and Gold cried out a tiny bit in pain.

Silver, shutting his eyes really tight, turned his head the other way. "I'm a monster."

"No!" Gold screamed. He didn't want his boyfriend to think that. "Silver, you're not!" he tried to sit up, but just fell back down again. Silver leaped out of bed.

"Gold! Look at what I did to you! I didn't have enough self-control to stop myself from hurting you! This is a problem! A serious problem.." he paced back and forth around the room.

"Silver.. I know you didn't do it on purpose.."

"Yeah," he said sarcastically. "And that's supposed to make it better?"

"They'll heal. The bruises, I mean."

"Yeah? And what about the fact that you can't even move right now?"

Gold blinked and said softly "I.. I don't know.."

"I can't believe I let myself do that to you.."

"You couldn't help it-"

"I'm tired of using that excuse, Gold! I'm your boyfriend! I'm supposed to be protecting you, not causing you harm! Ugh!" he banged his head against the wall. "I am _such_ a monster.."

* * *

"Jeez, this is way too much fun!" Marina clung to Ruby's arm, while they were walking around Ecruteak.

"What's fun about it?" Ruby asked, annoyed at her giddiness so early in the morning. "We've been at it for days with no luck of finding May."

"It's only been since yesterday that we've been searching!" she stopped walking and looked up at him. "Don't give up now!"

"I never said I was going to! But you act like this is some kind of joke! I lost my best friend! But I doubt you'd know anything about that."

Marina let go of his arm. "Excuse _me_! I know what it's like to lose a best friend. He may still be 'around', sure, but he's gone. He told me so himself. So. Before you go mouthing off, at least know who you're talking to first."

"Sorry.." Ruby mumbled.

"Besides, she's right over there." Marina pointed to a girl leaning up on the side of the gym, wearing a red fitted dress with blue leggings. Her hair was brown, but dyed darker at the tips, with a Beautifly fluttering beside her.

"May!" Ruby ran up to hug her. She didn't hug back, not in the mood.

"How did you find me..?" she said through gritted teeth, trying to pry him off of her.

"This girl helped me," Ruby pointed to Marina, as she held her hand out.

"Hi, I'm Marina. It's very nice to finally meet you. I've heard so many nice things." She smiled.

May took her hand, surprised. "I'm.. May. It's nice to meet you, as well." Then she turned to Ruby. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her how beautiful you were."

Marina nodded in agreement. "And it's true. You're gorgeous."

May got flustered. "_You're_ the gorgeous one." She looked her up and down, noticing the frilly dress she was wearing.

"What's that Pokémon?"

"Huh? Oh, right, I forgot people in this region probably don't know. This is a Beautifly. She's my best partner, besides my Torchic. I mostly do contests with her, though."

"Contests?" Marina's eyebrows furrowed.

"You know? Like the ones you see on TV?"

"I've never even been to or participated in a contest ever.. but it sounds fun. Have you won any?"

"Are you kidding?" Ruby looked at Marina with excitement. "She's got like five contest ribbons!"

"Oh, that sounds awesome! Way to go!"

"Thanks," May grinned.

"Come on, May, let's go! I've found you now, so we can leave." Ruby took her hand, but May stayed put.

"Go where? I'm not leaving until I battle this gym! The problem is, the leader isn't here."

"Who, Morty? He should be!"

"Or maybe he's in there.." Ruby pointed to a scary looking building.

"Oh.. That's Burned Tower. It's not safe to go looking in there, but if we absolutely have to, there's safety in numbers. I'll go ask my friend Silver and his boyfriend to come along with us."

"Silver? I feel like I've heard that name before.." May rubbed her chin with thought, as Ruby started walking behind Marina, her heels clicking on the ground with each step she took.

"Mmm.." Marina shook her head. "No you haven't. There's no one else named 'Silver' anywhere."

* * *

"Hey, Silver.." Marina crept open the door of their bedroom, and found Gold and Silver sleeping in the bed with the blanket over them. Gold's head was rested in Silver's lap, as Silver leaned against the back of the bed, sitting up with his eyes closed. "I know you're not asleep, Mr. Insomniac."

"Go away." Silver threw a pillow at her. It hit her in the face, feathers flying everywhere.

"At least you didn't slap me this time.." she spit out some fluff.

"Next time, it'll be a punch instead. What do you want."

"When Gold wakes up, I wanted you guys to come with us to the Burned Tower."

"For what?"

"To look for Morty."

"The gym leader? What about Lyra's battle?"

Marina shrugged. "He was there yesterday. Today, he's not."

"But why are you so worried about it? You got his badge, remember?"

Gold shifted positions a bit and rolled over to the other side of the bed. "You guys are talking too loud.." he pulled the blanket over his head. Silver got up and went to stand beside Marina.

"May wanted to battle him."

"Who?"

"Oh," Ruby walked in, with May following close behind. "Don't tell me you forgot who we've been searching for this entire time."

May approached the tall blond, looking up into his Silver eyes.

"What's your problem?" Silver sent unfriendly glances her way.

"She thinks she knows you.." Marina rolled her eyes.

"I do. You're Giovanni's son, right?"

Annoyed at the sudden mention of his dad, Silver drew closer to May's face, crossing his arms over his chest. "How did you know that."

"Everyone knows you. You're the Prince of Team Rocket."


	39. Love And Rockets

**Flashback**

**1 Year Ago**

**Kanto Region**

"How many of them were defeated?" a tall man with red hair asked, checking things off on a clipboard.

"Five, sir. The rest fled." A grunt answered him, the whole team inside a secret hideout.

"Fire the ones that lost. And find those that got away."

"Yes, sir!" a few members left the hideout, grabbing some Pokéballs on the way out that were sitting on a shelf.

"Excuse me," a grunt came inside, dragging a female grunt with him. "This young lady just started today. What should we do with her?"

"Ah," the man stood up, taking his black hood off with a red "R" painted on the front of it. "A new recruit? I'll take care of her. Go with the others that just left a while ago."

"Yes, sir." The grunt went out, leaving the girl alone with him.

"D.. did those piercings hurt?"

The man made a disgusted face. "I don't think that's any of your business. You've just arrived here, and you're already trying to be friendly? You're in the wrong place."

"S-sorry," she stammered. "I'm a bit of a curious person. But, uh.." she looked around. "I don't like it here, to be quite frank. You guys only wear black, and it's scary. I like red, better."

"You've got some mouth, don't you? Red is just as scary." He pointed to his piercing red eyes, which sent a chill up her spine. He sat down in his chair, and he motioned for her to sit on the floor. "Where did you come from?"

"Hoenn. A town called Littleroot. I moved there when I was 10."

"How old are you now?"

"19. You?"

"You're older than I am. Let's just leave it at that."

"Hmm. Okay."

No one said anything. The girl broke the silence. "People told me all kinds of things about you. They told me that I should be scared of you, and-"

"Are you afraid?"

"Right now, no. But I was a moment ago."

"Hm. So. What else do 'they' say about me?"

"They said you're going to be the next person to take over this whole organization, because you're the son of the boss."

The man nodded.

"So.. does that mean you're like a prince?"

He smirked at the thought. "A prince?"

"Yeah, you know. The heir to the throne. And your dad's like a king."

"Heh. Except this is no fairy tale. I'm miserable here. I don't like it any more than you do."

She lowered her head and pulled her skirt down so that her panties wouldn't show.

"Don't worry about that. You're not even my type, or the right gender. Besides, I've got better things to think about."

"Like what?"

"Like getting out of here." He raised an eyebrow, hinting around at something she didn't quite catch.

"Where are you going to go?"

"Hmm. I guess I should start thinking about that, huh? I've stayed in Kanto all my life."

"Why not try Johto?"

"Johto?" his face scrunched up in confusion. "What's a Johto?"

She laughed. "No, no! It's not a _what_, it's a where."

"Never heard of it. Come to think of it, I've never heard of _your_ town, either."

"Littleroot's a small town, but it's very cozy. The people there treat you like family. It basically was all just one big family. I wish I could go back, now. I don't like it here at all."

"Now there's one thing I don't get. Why are you here if you hate it so much?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Ah, but I asked you first."

"I was in Johto for a family vacation. There's a secret building in Goldenrod City, with a lot of scary trainers. I saw this guy who offered to take a picture of me in this uniform, so I tried it on. When he was done taking the photo, I forgot to take the costume off and I walked around some more. Next thing I know-" she threw her hands up in the air- "I'm right here."

The man examined her clothes, reaching out to touch them. "That would explain the cheap fabric."

The girl laughed.

"Sorry for getting you into this mess. The grunts probably thought you were new and got lost. You're free to go, if you'd like."

"_If_ I'd like? Have I not been saying how much I hated it here this whole time?" she got up and dusted herself off, on her way out.

"Wait."

"Hm?" she turned around as he got up. "This.. 'Johto' place.. does it have gyms?"

She smiled. "What kind of region would it be if it didn't?"

**By the way, Stephy, they just had sex. In chapter 37. I tried to make that as obvious as possible without making it too obvious. But apparently I didn't make it obvious enough. I love you. You're so oblivous. Oh. && welcome back, Onee-chan. By the way this chapter _was _inspired by your fanfic, Conquest. I can't take credit for this idea all by myself.**


	40. Those Deadly Thoughts

"Hmm.." Gold creaked the door open, as he tip toed out of the bedroom. He saw the back of Silver's blond hair, as he was sitting on the couch, reading a book. Gold crept closer.

"I can hear you."

_Eep!_ Gold thought, covering his mouth even though he hadn't said anything at all. Silver shifted his sitting position so that he was facing Gold, and grabbed his coffee off the table to take a sip of it.

"Hi, Silver." He smiled with his eyes closed, sweetly.

"Hey, cutie. You're up early."

"I know.. it's just.. When I woke up, you weren't there, and I.." he wiped his eyes sleepily.

Silver laughed. "You're absolutely adorable. Usually _I'm_ the one that has to wake you."

Gold nodded and took Silver's glasses off, putting them on his own face. He gasped. "You're blind! Everything's so blurry.."

Silver frowned. "Thanks for reminding me." He took his glasses from Gold and stood up, putting his book down. He walked from around the couch to bend down to Gold's height. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Yep!" he grinned. "I'm fine, see? I can walk on my own. And my skin's getting back to normal again, so. Don't worry about me."

"It's useless to tell me that. I'm always going to worry about you, no matter if you're fine or not." He hugged him, and Gold hugged back.

"By the way, what was that about yesterday?"

"What?"

"You're the Prince of Team Rocket?"

Silver released from the hug and stood up, turning his back to him. "How did you hear that?"

"I was awake sorta kinda. Then I drifted off to sleep after that part, so I didn't hear anything else."

"Good."

"Silver!" he moved in front of him. "Will you tell me about it someday?"

Hesitantly, Silver nodded.

"Thanks. So should we go find Morty now?"

"We already did, while you were sleeping. Me, Crystal, May, and Ruby went into Burned Tower, and we found Morty and some guy named Eusine. They were searching for the three legendary dogs that roam around Johto. Morty said that he was done helping that guy look for them, so he'll come back to the gym tomorrow.. which is today.."

"You did all that while I was sleeping?"

"You slept for a long time. That was the longest you've slept since I've known you."

"Oh," he yawned. "I think we all know why I slept for that long. But let's not talk about that. So did you want to battle him, now? I wonder if Lyra's already beaten him? Oh, where are my Pokémon?" he looked around and saw them chasing each other. "Nidoran! Venonat! Stop chasing Butterfree and Zubat around!"

Nidoran and Venonat stopped in their tracks as the other two Pokémon fluttered to the ground.

"Hmm.." Silver thought, looking at their Pokémon.

"What is it, Silver?"

"I was just thinking. Do you know what I really want?"

"What?"

"A Sneasel."

"Silver, you always go for scary Pokémon. You even saved up all your coins from the Game Corner to win an Ekans!"

"It was worth it. I really love dark types, poison types, ghost types.. Hey, Gold, what's _your_ type?"

"You."

Silver looked down at him suddenly and smiled. "I love you."

Gold smiled back. "Does that mean that I'm the boy of your dreams?"

"Hah. Well I don't _sleep_, so. I haven't exactly found him yet." Silver laughed.

Gold gasped. "Shut up! Just cause you're an insomniac doesn't mean you _don't_ sleep! You're so mean!" he tried to walk away, but Silver grabbed his hand and pulled him closer.

"I'm just kidding. You're the boy of my dreams, Gold. You know that. Hey, wait-" he pushed Gold into his chest, then stood back to look at him. "Have you gotten taller?"

"Um.. yeah. You noticed." He smiled. Silver frowned. "Silver? What's the matter?"

"Nothing," he jumped over the couch to go sit on it. Gold walked around to go sit beside him.

"Tell me?"

"It's nothing. You just reminded me of how old I was. I'm about to be 20 years old, and yet you're still growing, while I've stopped completely."

"I'm getting older, and so are you. I mean you're always going to be older than me, taller than me, smarter than me.. and that's okay." Gold grinned. "I don't mind. I love you because of that."

Silver patted his head. "You make things sound so simple. I like that about you. Always looking on the bright side, unlike me.." he moped.

"Silver! Stop beating yourself up!"

"It's hard not to. You're way too good for me. All I can manage to do is hurt you, even when I'm _trying_ to be nice and romantic."

"The bruises healed. Let's just leave it alone."

"But what about the next time!" he stood up again. "What if it just keeps getting worse and worse?"

"Then maybe you should calm down.. when we do it.."

"I _can't_ calm down! I.. I.."

"You? You? You what?"

"I'm in love with you. I act crazy sometimes. And when that happens, I.." he thought for a moment. "Let me try explaining it in Pokémon talk. It's like you're a Spearow, and I'm a Raichu. Flying types are powerless against Electric types. So to speak, I basically paralyzed you. Because you were unable to move."

"But I got up again, so stop sweating it. Besides, you apologized before hand."

"I never knew the outcome would be so.. so.."

"Silver! Oh my God!" Gold stood up on the couch. "You're making it seem like you almost killed me! I wanted it as much as you did!"

Silver's expression turned dark. "But what you fail to realize is, that if this keeps up, things will only get worse. And then you'll _really _end up dead."


	41. Taking Things Seriously

There were two people in the room. One was tall, about twenty years old. The other, a slightly younger, smaller brunette. Both were attractive. Both had raw emotions towards each other. Both used to be extremely close. Now, they sat in silence, side by side in a waiting room at the Pokémon Center, exchanging venomous glances full of animosity.

"I see you dyed your hair again.." Marina said dryly, picking a thread from her ruffled dress. Silver didn't say anything, letting the moment pass. "Does Gold like it?"

"He never got a chance to see it. Or this," Silver stuck his tongue out. Marina gasped.

"You pierced your tongue?"

He nodded.

"Unbelievable! I hate it. I hate you."

"I'm used to it."

She turned a little more to face him. "You know what? I tried to be a friend to you, Silver. I did! But I can no longer take you seriously! There's a little something called 'give and take': you try to improve, and I try to help you out. But you make the same old mistakes."

"Crystal, you've never _cared_ about me. You told me yourself you dyed your hair blue because you've always wanted to. Not for me. You're always giving me advice, but only for Gold. It's always for someone else's sake, never my own." He flipped his hair out of his face and stood up. "Can we just not be friends anymore? Seriously."

Marina lowered her eyes, sadly. "Yes.."

"Okay," he zipped his black jacket up all the way, and put his hood over his head. "That would make things a lot easier. I don't want a know-it-all friend like you hanging around. It's bothersome, and all we do is argue."

She nodded, some tears falling on her lap. It went unnoticed by Silver, as he started to walk away. Then he turned around, remembering something. "Oh and by the way, happy birthday."

* * *

"Silver!" Gold dropped the groceries on the floor, as he stared at his boyfriend's now fiery red hair.

"What. What's wrong?"

"Look at your hair! It's red again!" he ran over to him and reached out to touch it, but couldn't. Silver bent down so that he could. "I really like it."

Silver smiled and gave him a peck on the lips, picking up the bags he dropped. "Did you get everything on the shopping list?"

"Uh huh!" he sat on the couch. After Silver was done putting the stuff he bought away, he came to sit next to him. They both watched their Pokémon running around playing.

"Gold, how would you feel about taking care of me for a couple of days?" he put an arm over Gold's shoulder.

"Hm?" he didn't know what he meant by that.

"I have to get my wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow."

Gold made a wary face. "That's going to hurt.. really badly!"

Silver rolled his eyes. "No, it won't. It'll be fine. But I'll have to like stay in bed all day long. So will you be okay doing the cooking and cleaning and stuff? Oh my God.." Silver's hand got drawn to his mouth. "You can't even reach half the stuff in the kitchen. I forgot about that."

"I'll stand on a chair."

"You'll fall and break something. Never mind, you don't have to take care of me. I'll do everything. Besides, I've been doing everything up until now anyway. I'm not used to it being the other way around."

"Hmm. Yeah.." Gold thought for a moment. "Your cheeks are gonna get really huge, and you'll talk funny."

Silver's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to look disgusting. Even more that I do now."

"Silver, you're gorgeous. Everyone knows that." He put his head on his shoulder, wrapping a strand of Silver's hair around his finger. When he didn't say anything, Gold looked up at him, as he yawned.

"Hey!" Gold sat up more and pressed his hands into Silver's thighs, leaning in close to his face.

"What?"

"Open your mouth! I just saw something in there!"

"Uh maybe it was my _tongue_?" he said, sarcastic.

Gold just stared at him, waiting. Sighing, Silver stuck his tongue out, revealing a black metal rod with a ball at the end poking through it.

"Oh my God! How are you going to eat?"

"Um? Like I always do?"

"But it'll hurt!"

"Nooo.. I've tolerated things much more painful throughout my life. One little needle in my tongue's not a big deal. The only time I really hurt is when something bad happens to you."

"Really?"

"Really.." Silver said calmly, pushing Gold down on the couch and climbing on top of him. "You know, I've had a lot of piercings, but never on my tongue. So I've never actually felt what it's like to kiss someone with it."

It took Gold a minute to realize what Silver was getting at. "You want to kiss me?"

"Obviously.." he drew closer to Gold and started making out with him, not being careful at all. After a while, he pulled away.

"It tickles.." Gold smiled. Silver started laughing.

"You're seriously way too cute."

* * *

"Okay, Mr. Heart, open up wide." Nurse Joy pulled on some gloves, as Silver was lying down in a chair squeezing onto Gold's hand.

"Are you scared?" he asked him, as their eyes met for a brief second.

"No."

"Then why are you holding my hand?" Gold raised his eyebrows.

Silver snatched his hand away. "Gold, I'm going to _kill _you."

Gold laughed. "I'd like to see you try."

* * *

Silver woke up to the sun shining through the window and the Pidgeys chirping outside. He had a massive headache. He looked over and noticed that Gold wasn't there. Slowly, he got out of bed, with only his briefs on, and walked out into the hallway, rubbing his head. He smelled pancakes, and could hear the sound of bacon sizzling on a frying pan.

Gold was cooking.

Silver, standing from a distance, watched him as he drew smiley faces on the pancakes with syrup. He reached for the salt on a shelf, struggling to grab it. Silver went over there and got it for him, placing it in his hand and looking down at him with tired eyes.

"Silver! What would I do without you?"

He rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't be able to reach anything."

"Your cheeks are puffy."

Silver stuck his tongue out at him in annoyance.

"Hey! Well, at least you're not talking funny."

"Whatever.." he grabbed a plate full of food Gold had made for him. "This one's mine, right? With all the hearts drawn on it.."

"Yup!" he washed his hands, as Silver stood there for a minute.

"You know, you haven't reacted to me not being fully clothed, yet."

"Silver, I had sex with you. I'm pretty sure I remember what your body looks like. Oh, wait, I forgot. I'm supposed to call you 'sexy', or whatever. Forgive me."

"No," he set his plate down. "It's not that. It's just.. I don't know.. It's nothing, never mind."

"Wait, it _is _something! Otherwise you wouldn't have brought it up!"

In an attempt to change the subject, Silver grabbed Gold's waist and lifted him up on top of the counter, kissing him roughly. Then he pulled away, satisfied.

"Silver."

"Yes?"

"I can't take you seriously with your cheeks all swollen."

**The whole "teeth" thing was random, but on purpose. My best friend Abigail got her wisdom teeth taken out recently, and so did Chelsea. And soon my friend Tori is getting her wisdom teeth taken out, so that's what inspired me. I've never experienced it first hand, so I made it up on the spot.**

**As you can see, this is why I've been updating constantly (sorry to those who thought it annoying to see so many chapters at once) because I wanted to post this in time for Crystal's b-day, which is indeed April 30****th****. (Sadly I neglected to look up the other character's birthdays, so who knows if Silver is about to turn 20 or already turned 20. For now, I think I'll keep him 19, whether that's right or wrong.)**


	42. A Small Girl's Revenge

"That's funny!" he adjusted the long scarf on his neck, purple and red. "Two trainers at the same time?"

"Yes, Morty. They want to battle you, but they won't do it alone." Medium Grace informed.

"So we've got a couple of young boys who refuse to challenge me separately. Hmm.." he stroked his chin, deep in thought. "Well where in the rule book does it say that they can't? Bring them back here."

* * *

"This match will be between the Gym Leader of Ecruteak City, Morty, and the two challengers Ethan Gold, from New Bark Town, and Silver Heart from Pallet Town. Each trainer may use up to three Pokémon each, but the leader may NOT substitute. Okay. You may begin!"

After the judge had finished, Morty threw out a Pokéball at the same time Silver did.

Both were Gastly.

Silver started to chew on his gum furiously. "This does not look good." He called his Gastly back, and threw out his Croconaw.

"Silver. Why'd you do that?"

"Wait. You're distracting me. I've got a plan."

"Gastly, use Lick."

"Dodge it, Croconaw."

Croconaw dodged.

"Now use Curse!"

"Dodge that, too."

"Oy, you know it _helps_ to attack, too. If your defense was as good as your offense, you'd win this thing hands down."

Silver growled at Morty. "Don't say a word I already know."

Gold grabbed a Pokéball and looked at it. "Okay, Cyndaquil. Wanna help them out? Go!" he threw it, as Cyndaquil came out and ran to give Croconaw a hug. Croconaw bent down to hug him back.

"Your Cyndaquil is clingy. Just like you."

Gold laughed nervously. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Well, no, but in a battle, it helps if your Pokémon is focused."

"I meant about me."

Silver looked away. "We'll talk about that later. Alright, Croconaw, use Headbutt! Wait!" Silver smacked his head, knowing that that move wouldn't work. Croconaw's head went right through Gastly.

Morty smiled. "You can't take back a command once you've called it."

Silver's growls deepened, glaring at Gold. "Would you quit distracting me? I wouldn't have called that out if you had kept your mouth shut!"

Gold frowned. "You were the one who shouted it out without thinking! Don't blame me!"

"Right, and I suppose it's my fault that move didn't work."

"Maybe if you wouldn't have gotten kicked out of Pokémon School, you would have known that physical attacks are no use against ghost types."

"Gold! What the hell? _I _was the one who told you that! I don't have time for this. Croconaw, Hydro Pump, let's go!"

Croconaw got a clear shot. Silver looked down at Gold, scowling. "Are you going to help out, or what?"

"Okay, okay.. Cyndaquil, use-"

"Gastly, use Curse," Morty ordered calmly.

"What? Waiiittt!" Gold looked confused.

"Curse waits for no one."

"But what _is_ that? Silver, does your Gastly know Curse yet?"

"I made sure he didn't learn such a useless move like that. Losing half its HP, plus making your opponent slowly lose it's own? I feel like there's a better way to win."

"So Cyndaquil's cursed.." Gold thought about it. "Okay. So just use your Flamewheel then."

Gastly fainted.

Gold swayed back and forth for a little bit, off into another world.

"Gold! You won!" Silver shouted, wondering why he wasn't paying any attention.

"What?" he looked up. "Oh!" he smiled. "Awesome!"

Silver smacked the back of Gold's head. "Don't space out like that."

"Owww.."

"Croconaw, return." Silver pointed his Pokéball at it.

"I'm starting to think that this whole 'team' thing is to my disadvantage. Let's go, Haunter!" Morty tossed Haunter's Pokéball.

"Zubat, you're up." Silver threw his 'ball, and Zubat flew out in a rush of eagerness. Then he pointed out in front of him, to nothing in particular. "Use your Supersonic on Haunter."

Haunter became confused.

"Haunter, go at it with your Night Shade."

Haunter hurt himself in confusion.

"Hey, Cyndaquil! Return!"

"Gold, what are you doing? He was fine!"

"Yeah, but he's cursed. So, yeah. It'd be best if I switched.. Pokémon."

"Stop the match!" a girl with a loud voice and brown hair yelled, her flip flops flapping beneath the surface of the ground she was running on. She had a taller man's hand in hers, only jogging because his legs had fewer steps to take. Gold and Silver turned their heads to look at who interrupted their battle.

"What's the matter?" Morty called his Haunter back, just as confused as his Pokémon.

The girl just shook her head and ran over to Silver, grabbing his wrist.

"Hey! Let go of me!"

The metal clicking sound of handcuffs silenced his demands, as he was now staring into the eyes of the man he once loved.


	43. Rules

"Marina Taylor Ann Crystal, what did you just do?" Silver screamed, his nostrils flaring in complete rage.

Marina shrugged her shoulders, taking a hair tie off her wrist and putting her hair in a ponytail. "I guess when you use my full name like that, I'm supposed to take you seriously, huh?"

Silver said nothing, actually waiting on an answer.

"I handcuffed you to Blue; what does it look like I just did?"

"But WHY?" Silver's voice echoed throughout the Ecruteak gym walls. She walked full circle around Blue and Silver, staring down at Gold.

"Sorry, Gold. I had no choice."

"Why are you apologizing to _him_?"

"Because _he's _not the one I'm mad at! I know the last thing he wants to see is you handcuffed to your ex."

"Marina.." Gold started, in a low voice, "why _did_ you handcuff Silver to Blue?"

She blinked. " And now for my next trick.."

It took everyone a minute to get it, as she ran out of the gym exit.

Silver started to run after her, but got jerked backwards, forgetting that his wrist was chained to someone else. "I'm going to count to ten, and if you're not within thirty feet away from me by the time I get to one, I'm sawing your hand off." He spoke slowly, looking straight ahead without making any eye contact with Blue, even though he was referring to him when he spoke.

"Silver! Let's not get rash. I'll just go ask Marina for the key."

Blue scratched his head. "There is no.. key.."

Silver stopped breathing.

"Think about it. She wouldn't have done this if she had a key."

"Blue!" he turned to him suddenly, hatred in his eyes. "_**WHY**_ am I handcuffed to you?"

Blue said nothing, raising his eyebrows and staring up at Silver.

"I swear to God, if you don't answer me, you'll never walk again."

"Is that supposed to scare me? Look, it's your fault for letting your guard down and getting into this mess."

"WRONG. You're wrong. So I have no choice but to assume you were in on this, right?"

"I had no part of this."

Silver laughed. "Bullshit. So you mean to tell me you had nothing to do with it?"

"Nothing. I'm telling the truth."

"Tell me why, Blue. You out of all people! It had to be _you_?"

Blue looked at him with dull eyes. "Has it sunk in, yet?"

* * *

There was a knock on the door, as Marina rose up from a chair and went to answer it.

"Gold!" she smiled sweetly. "Don't kill me."

"I couldn't even if I wanted to." He let himself in, as she shut the door.

"What? Hey, sorry about that."

"Where's the key. I know you have it." Gold didn't have time for games.

"I don't have it! I threw it away the minute I got the cuffs."

"You're sick. I didn't think of you as the type to do this."

"Okay," she rolled her eyes and beamed. "Let me explain-"

"Kinda hard to talk when you're staring at the ceiling."

She fake smiled, gritting her teeth. "Where are they?"

"Waiting outside."

"Why?"

"Hey, I technically don't have to tell you anything, Marina! You 'supposedly' don't have the key! You can't help us in any way shape or form right now! As a matter of fact, you probably never could! You chose to act like you were actually helping Silver, but in reality you were too busy trying to make my boyfriend's life a living hell!"

Marina made a _ding!_ sound with her mouth. Gold tilted his head to the side.

"What was that for?"

"What was what for?" she asked, fake innocence oozing out of every word she spoke.

"That 'ding' noise."

"Oh, nothing. You were right. That's all."

"Excuse me?"

Her voice got higher. "You were right, Gold! That's why I handcuffed him to Blue, the one person that he couldn't stand!"

"You must be out of your mind.."

"Aren't I a good actress? Or maybe you all are just stupid. I'd like to think that it's the first one. But I know it's just the second one."

"Why.."

Marina's expression changed, turning dark. "Do you really want to know why?"

"Yes, or else I wouldn't have asked."

"Don't get smart with me, Gold, or I just might have to cut your tongue."

"I'm not scared of you."

"Oh? You seem to be scared of everything else."

Gold's mouth formed into a tight line. "Now I understand why Silver gets so mad at you."

"Shut up. You don't understand anything at all."

"You're right. I don't understand it. I don't understand how you can pretend to be a friend to us, tell Silver he needs to treat me better, then go and do something like this. I don't understand it, so why don't you explain it to me."

"I didn't want you hanging around. There. Plain and simple."

Gold's reply was delayed for a few seconds. "..What?"

"Honestly? Silver was my best friend. More than anything, I wanted to travel with him. Then he had to go and meet Blue, and that's when things started getting bad. I started lying to him, saying anything and everything I could to get him to like me better. But our relationship never changed. He was so stuck on Blue. So I said fuck it. If he wants to get hung up over a guy who thinks nothing of him, then I'm going on my own damn adventure. Another one. By that point, I was used to being alone, so it didn't matter much to me. And you know, I beat myself up for days because I didn't recognize him right away when I met up with him again. I didn't expect to see him again. He hadn't changed in three years, except now he's a lot taller and his voice is deeper. But I had been putting so much time and effort into trying to erase him from my mind and block him out as best I could; I was blown away when it had actually worked. Lucky me, right? Wrong. Because then you came along, and I didn't know what to think or how to feel. How would you feel if your cousin's childhood friend was suddenly dating your best friend? Gold, I wanted to be in your shoes. I never got the chance to walk around with him, just the two of us! I yearn for that feeling again! Three years ago, I took the time we had for granted, because I thought it'd last forever.. but it never did." Marina started crying, but Gold had no sympathy for her, seeing as how there were no tears falling from her eyes.

"You're just like Lyra."

"Hmm?"

"You guys are just alike, you could be twins. The only difference is that Lyra would never do something like this."

"Listen. To me!" she stopped crying after that, immediately. "Now I've sat back and watched this train wreck unfold without saying anything assuming it was going to get better, but now I'm saying something. If you're happy with Silver, then that's fine. But he's not right for you."

"Oh really. I find that hard to believe." Gold rolled his eyes.

Marina smiled. "Hard to talk when you're staring at the ceiling."

Gold frowned. "I'm sensing a bit of jealousy.."

"Ha! Of course I'm feeling jealous! When it comes to love, you have to develop a thick skin, but I'm always going to feel everything, including jealousy. It's my nature."

"Do you think you'd be a better fit for Silver than me?"

Marina's face scrunched up with thought. She decided to avoid the question asked altogether. "Look, all I'm saying is that in a relationship, each person should support the other. They should lift each other up. You guys don't seem to be doing a very good job of that."

"And you think you're more of a support system than me? Who are _you _to judge?"

"You're missing the point."

"Then what's your point?"

"My point: Not all games are meant to be played. If he _never_ let's you win, it's time to walk away."

"Would you tell me who said that?"

"I'M saying it!"

"Yeah, only because you want Silver all to yourself! It's important to not have rules about who the guy is! The rule should be about who you are when you're with him. And I don't hold anything against Silver. I love everything about him, including his flaws. There shouldn't be any rules when it comes to love. You're supposed to let love surprise you because you never know who you're going to fall in love with. You never know who's going to come into your life, and for me, when I picture the person I want to end up with, I don't think about what they're doing wrong or what they look like. I picture the feeling I get when I'm with them."

"Gold! I'm pretty sure having a few rules here and there wouldn't be such a bad thing! I've seen the way you two interact! With my _**own**_ eyes! He picks a fight with you every chance he gets! Don't you see? Why haven't you realized it by now? Spontaneous arguments are a sign of passion, but repeated arguments are a sign of drama. Stop relapsing and start rehabbing! That's rule number one!"

"So what you're saying is that I should get out while I can, is that right?"

"You had to hear it from someone. Better to hear it from me, right?" Marina slid her hands into her pockets casually.

"What I don't get is how you can sit here and bad-mouth him, yet you want him all to yourself? What kind of sense does that make?"

" I'm sorry, Gold."

"You're not sorry, and even if you truly were, it wouldn't have mattered anyway. Sorry doesn't get the key back. Sorry doesn't fix anything, change anything, or help anything. So maybe you should shut your mouth and keep your apologies to yourself. Because now I'm starting to realize that Blue was never the one fucking up me and Silver's relationship, it was **you**."


	44. Credits

Outside of the Pokémon Center, Blue and Silver stayed chained together awkwardly, remaining silent. Blue was sitting down, while Silver stood up, leaning against the wall. Blue's arm was raised quite a bit, since it was attached by the hand cuffs to Silver's wrist.

"My arm is numb.." Blue grumbled, looking up at Silver. Silver looked down at him with calm eyes.

"Good."

"Heart.." whined Blue. "You're so mean."

"It's your fault I'm in this situation, whether you agree on that or not. So don't tell me that _I'm _the mean one."

"But you are mean! I didn't do anything to you-"

"Yeah, except break my heart."

Blue stood up. "God, you're still on that?"

"No, I'm over that."

"So you told Gold you love him, then?"

Silver gave him a sour look. "When did this become about me and Gold? Look, just stop talking to me unless you really have to, like in an emergency."

No one said anything for a while.

"Heart.." Blue whined again.

Silver groaned. "What?"

"I have to go to the bathroom.."

"You must be out of your mind if you think I'm going anywhere with you when you have your pants down."

"That was a test, and you failed."

"Why are you testing me? Can we _please_ just stay silent until Gold comes back?"

Blue appeared downcast. "You really can't stand me, can you?"

Silver put a hand on his hip. "Obviously."

Blue sat back down again, sighing. "Then I guess you don't want me to tell you who has the key?"

"Hm?" Silver raised an eyebrow. "Who does?"

"I'm not telling you now! Besides, you never give me any credit when I try and tell you I didn't do anything wrong to you."

"Whatever, you big baby," Silver growled in irritation. "You probably don't even know who has the stupid key. You don't deserve any credits."

"I do so!" Blue pouted, and then noticed a stick of cherry flavoured gum sticking out of Silver's back pocket. He reached in to grab it, but Silver was too distracted and mad about the handcuffs to care.

"How in the world did Crystal get a hold of these, anyway? There aren't any trick shops or magic shops here around Johto. At least none that I know of."

Blue shrugged, blowing a bubble and popping it so that he could talk. "I don't know."

"So you just sat back and watched and let her do this?"

"I'm not her parent, Heart. I'm not going to tell her what she can or can't do."

"Well, that would have been nice! You're old enough to know right from wrong, aren't you? Maybe you could have thought about how this would have affected you, or at least me?"

Blue stood up again. "But I did think about you, Silver! This whole time I have! The only reason why I even agreed to this whole thing was because I wanted to be near you."

"Blue," Silver used an impatient, sharp tone, shutting his eyes really tight. "I'm going to rape the shit out of you."

"And I'd let you." Blue said that a little too calmly.

Silver's eyes flew open in an instant, filled with hatred. "Bitch, stop playing! When you tell me stuff like that, the only thing it does is fuck with my head! Don't you get tired of that? Screwing with me?"

"But it's the truth, Heart! After you came to visit that one time, I started liking you again.."

Silver bit his lip. "What the hell happened to Red? Did he break up with you or something? Is that what it is? Let me tell you something Blue, I'm no one's second choice. But.. maybe just this once.. I will be.." He took Blue's chin in his hand, and Blue's heart started beating faster. Silver heard it, and decided to mess with him, leaning in like he was about to kiss him. Then he backed away, smirking.

Blue almost cried. "Heart, you're so mean! I hate you!"

"Eh, that's not what you were saying just a second ago. Look, the fact of the matter is, you're way too late. I wanted you back the minute you broke up with me. Now, three years later, you decide you want me back? That's convenient as fuck." He turned to him, "Or is this another test?"

Blue didn't have a chance to answer, as Gold and Marina came down the stairs and outside the doors of the Pokémon Center seconds later. Gold ran to Silver and clung to him, more than usual. Silver indulged in it, wrapping his arms around him.

"We have to go. We don't have time for all that lovey-dovey stuff." Marina said bitterly, averting her eyes.

"I agree." Blue said dryly, also averting his eyes.

"What's the rush..?" Silver bent down to kiss Gold, as Gold savored the moment.

Marina sighed. "We have to go get the key back, silly."

Gold pulled away, as Silver stood all the way up. "Where?"

"Yeah, Marina, I thought you said you threw it away?"

"I lied, silly. The real key is back at Team Rocket Headquarters."


	45. Game Over

"Ah," Giovanni watched as his son, along with Blue, Gold, and Marina made their way into his office. It was dark, with miscellaneous photos of Silver and his mother when they were younger placed on shelves, and exact replica statues of Persian on each corner of the room. A real one lay curled up on a red sofa, snoozing away. "How nice of you to finally pay me a visit. I see you've brought along all of your friends, including the young lady I met earlier."

"They're not my friends, and that 'young lady' you met earlier I'd hardly call a lady. Besides, the only one coming close to my friend would be Gold, but he's more than a friend to me."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean I fucked him."

Gold was too scared to mention how disrespectfully blunt Silver was being to his own father, so he stayed quiet, along with Blue and Marina.

"You know I raised you better than to use that sort of language with me, Silver."

Silver stuck his middle finger up at him. "Yeah, you did a _really_ good job raising me." He faked a smile. "Just look at how I turned out."

"Hmm.." Giovanni leaned back in his chair, observing Gold with careful thought. "I'm disappointed in you, Silver. I wanted grandchildren from you."

Silver almost laughed. "Why do you think I started liking males? So that I made sure you never had any."

Blue turned to stare at Silver when he said that, while Marina's eyes stayed glued to the floor.

"I don't understand you."

"What do you not get? If I knocked up some unfortunate girl stupid enough to even be with me in the first place, all you would do is try to get my son or daughter to take over the entire Team Rocket organization! But I wouldn't want that to end up being my child's fate! I'd want a better future for them; a better life. One that I didn't get to have. Because mine was chosen for me."

"So you're saying it's not a good thing the way you grew up?"

"It's not bad to grow up. But it's bad to forget what it felt like to be a child. I never got a childhood because of you."

"You know your mother and I raised you the best we could-"

"Correction. MOM raised me the best she could, until she realized how fucked up in the head you really were. I wonder where I get my insanity from. I don't blame her for leaving."

"You know," Giovanni started, switching subjects, "I heard about your battle with the grunts at the Slowpoke Well. That was your doing, correct? Now why in the world would you go against your very own team like that."

"I ran away, remember? I'm not the prince of Team Rocket anymore, and I certainly don't associate with your or them. Anymore. Maybe I used to once upon a time, but lately they've just been pissing me off. Kind of like you. I'm done talking. Give me the key. Because I know you have it."

Giovanni got up out of his seat and walked over to him. Silver seemed short in comparison, as his father towered over him at an enormous six seven. Smirking, the Team Rocket boss fished out a shiny metal key from his suit pocket, grabbing his son's wrist to un-lock it. Silver couldn't have snatched his wrist away fast enough, hissing in disgust. The remaining cuff dangled against Blue's side, still on his wrist. He didn't bother asking to unlock his.

"Silver, I want you to come back to Team Rocket. We could use someone like you, someone with your determination. You were this close to taking my position as boss before you left."

Silver said nothing, actually considering it for a while. "On one condition."

"This isn't negotiable."

"Don't give me any of that. You want me in, right? So you'll do it on _my_ terms."

"How demanding."

"I'm quite surprised you'd expect anything less from me. Of course I'm going to be demanding, especially when it comes to Gold."

"Oh?" Giovanni's eyebrow rose. "What does he have to do with it?"

"You're fucking with me, right? He has everything to do with it! I love him! Either he comes with me, or I'll have to decline on your little offer."

Giovanni shook his head. "I can't allow him to come along. He's too young."

"He's 16. That's old enough. Let's not forget you had me started when I was that age."

"Ah, yes. And then you ran away from it all, to become a trainer and go on a little adventure." Giovanni teased, grinning a bit.

Marina and Blue gave each other sketchy looks, now understanding why the guy they were in love with had the attitude he had. Why he was angry all the time for what seemed like no reason, and why he talked badly to people and yelled at them. His childhood was broken, right from the very start, and all Blue and Marina had done was just fan the flames, making things worse.

Giovanni continued. "He has no business being here. I won't accept it, so you'll have to come alone and leave him behind."

"I'd drop dead before that **ever** happens. You're losing it, old man. Didn't you hear me? I'm in _love _with him! I don't know how obvious I made that, but I would never leave him." He turned to face Gold, staring in his gray eyes for the longest time, while Gold stared back into his silver ones. He cupped Gold's face in his hands, as Gold's arms wrapped around Silver's neck.

The amount of passion that came from their kiss was indescribable, as Gold and Silver got surrounded in their own world. They forgot the situation that they were in. They forgot all the fights they had before, and why they had gotten so mad in the first place. All they knew was then, right there and now, that they loved each other. That was the only thing they needed to remember. Once they released, their eyes opened, and it was like they sky was falling; reality setting in and crushing the moment.

"Silver.." Giovanni murmured with patience, as he had waited the whole time for them to be done. "You've become so.. kind. Even with all of your evident rage boiling up inside of you, you still manage to come across as if you actually care about someone other than yourself. What happened to you, Silver?"

Glaring, Silver pulled his boyfriend closer to him, putting an arm around his shoulder. "**Gold** happened to me. And if you think for even a _second_ that I'm going to just drop everything and leave him for Team Rocket, well you must have me mistaken with yourself. You might have done that to mom, but I've learned from your mistakes. Gold's the only thing I've got right now. I'm not going to let you take him away from me. Your game's over. You've been playing everyone, especially me, for way too long."

Giovanni went back to his desk to sit, turning himself around in his armchair so that his back was facing everyone. "On the contrary, Silver. I think it's just begun."

**THE END**

_No one really understood why I made a story about two characters in Pokémon that aren't gay in real life and don't even appear in the anime. That's why people write fan fiction. They want more of what isn't there. And if I had to choose one thing to say Silver, I'd tell him for every minute you're angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness. So smile more often. If not for me, then do it for Gold_.

****The sequel to this story, titled "The Problem With Silver" has been published. By popular demand..****


End file.
